Bath closes Crooked Spur dump site By Amanda Isley • Staff writer
MILLBORO - The continuation of illegal dumping of everything from dismembered cars to construction debris has prompted Bath County supervisors to have the dump site on Crooked Spur Road in Millboro shut down.
The nine Dumpsters have been removed from the property and shale barriers are in place to block vehicles from entering the crescent-shaped site, said board chair Cliff Gilchrest.
In addition, the Rocky Ridge dump site presents its own set of challenges with which the county is struggling.
Gilchrest said the Crooked Spur site was well-used, but also abused. "This was the primary dump site for the residents on the east side of Warm Springs Mountain," he said. The county's attempts to curb illegal dumping have all failed, and it has turned to the last resort. Posted signs outlining accepted materials at the site and prohibiting dumping outside of the trash bins were routinely ignored.
The county had a fence erected to prevent people from dumping down the hollow, but someone vandalized it, prying it back enough to get a truck back up to the hollow to dump garbage.
Tthe board is considering three alternative sites to replace the spot on Crooked Spur Road, Gilchrest explained. All prospective sites are in close proximity to the former dump.
While some county officials have suggested Millboro could do without the site, Gilchrest said the nine Dumpsters were emptied three times a week, and many times, they were full. "I think most people appreciate the reality that these green boxes are essential," he said.
The site rests on 4.5 acres of county-owned property that adjoins an estimated 150 acres of private land. The board has made no official decision on what to do with the property, but Gilchrest said he thinks the best course of action would be to sell it. "It would make a beautiful home site if not for what is in and on top of the ground."
The hollow at the site was used as a dumping ground when Gilchrest first moved to Millboro in 1978, he said. He was shocked to learn there was not even a lining installed to provide a barrier between the waste and ground, he recalled. Today, although the county has discontinued such a practice, and dumping in the hollow is against the law, people continue to illegally dump trash there.
"For some reason, people find it more than a little acceptable to dispose of trash in the hollow with no thought to the damage to the watershed," Gilchrest said. "Lick Run is located at the bottom of that hollow, which ultimately runs into the Cowpasture. There's also the potential impact on private wells to consider."
He noted the recent discovery of bacterial and fungal lesions on a population of fish in the Cowpasture River. "I find it ironic that we have what's considered as one of the most pristine water sources in the state, and yet they are finding fish with these lesions on them." Gilchrest said there was no proof of a connection to pollution, noting the fish problems could be caused by a number of different issues.
Nevertheless, he encouraged every citizen to think before dumping refuse, and consider recycling as much as possible. "I think we all need to become more cognizant of how each of us impacts the natural environment. The county spends more than $900,000 a year on disposal of solid waste, and that figure is quickly approaching $1 million - if more of us would recycle, not only would we see an improvement in the environment, but we would certainly see a reduction in our solid waste bills," he said.
The county hired Tinker Grim to maintain the site, but even with his visits 2-3 times a day, illegal disposal continued. Gilchrest commended Grim for his hard work, and said the site had greatly improved under his supervision. "Before he was hired, this site was just atrocious," he said.
The site is now off-limits to vehicles and dumping is not permitted. Residents have to travel a mile or two up the road to the trash compactor site in Millboro Springs for legal disposal. "I'd like to think the closing of this site would give people pause to consider their recycling habits," Gilchrest said. A recycling facility is also located at the Millboro Springs site.
Although it's not plagued as much by illegal dumping, the Rocky Ridge site about four miles from the Highland County line on U.S. 220 poses another significant problem. The culprits are a group of hungry bears that rummage through the garbage, creating an unsightly and environmentally unfriendly mess, said Russell Woodzell, owner of Jack's Trash Service.
Woodzell is has a contract with the county to maintain 12 green box sites - a total of about 75 Dumpsters. The five green boxes at Rocky Ridge rest on privately owned land, and the county has permission from the owner to keep the Dumpsters on-site. Just behind them, a creek - Gillett's Run - flows below, eventually emptying into the Jackson River.
The site has had problems for years, even before Woodzell inherited the business from his father, he said. "We have tried putting lids on the Dumpsters there before. What happens is the residents then don't lift the lids to put the trash in the Dumpsters, and some of the senior citizens have trouble lifting the lids, so they put the trash on the ground or on top of the Dumpsters. Then we have just as big of a mess as we do now," he explained.
Despite failed attempts in the past, Woodzell said he's willing to give the lids another try. He plans to put one Dumpster with a lid on the site for a trial period. If residents use it, lids could be added to the other green boxes, he said. "I hate to spend thousands of dollars on lids if the residents aren't going to lift them anyway - I am willing to do it for that site, but the residents have to help us out."
Although Woodzell empties the boxes and transports the trash, he is not responsible for cleaning up the bears' mess. But he takes on that responsibility anyway. "I clean it up myself because I hate to see it - myself and an employee are going to clean out the creek bed this week," he said.
Bears can learn to open lids, and the covers might not completely solve the problem, Woodzell added. He's contacted Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for advice and assistance.
Woodzell suggested VDGIF could use dogs to chase the bears off, causing no harm to the animals, or even relocate them. However, DGIF said it couldn't do anything until the county has lids on its Dumpsters, he said.
Another possible solution is fencing. "We're trying to get permission from the landowner to put a fence up to help keep the trash out of the creek," Woodzell said.
County administrator Bonnie Johnson said DGIF felt Bath was doing everything it could to address the issue. She said the game commission informed her the bears would leave the site in four to five weeks in search of other food sources.
Woodzell continues to work on a solution and says he'll use this trial period to judge whether lids can prevent litter and pollution to the creek below. He received the Golden Trowel award from the Warm Springs Garden Club several years ago for his good stewardship practices. "I try my best - I want to see Bath County kept beautiful," he said.
The dump site has also been the scene of two accidents where people were injured, adding a safety component to the situation. In the past two years, Warm Springs resident Mark Weiss was hit by a truck while dumping his trash, and Hot Springs resident Patricia Haynes ran off the road and hit a tree while trying to avoid a garbage bag stranded on the roadway.
The proximity of the site to the road was a contributing factor to the first accident, and bears were blamed for dragging the trash bag onto the road, causing the second.
Woodzell said illegal dumping is an issue at all sites in Bath County. Many items are put in Dumpsters that should be taken to the transfer station. One reason it's more of a problem at the Crooked Spur site in Millboro is that residents and business employees don't want to drive the distance to the station, he surmises.
"Once, I found a whole car cut up and put in the Dumpsters at Crookes Spur," he said. He encourags residents to abide by regulations and transport items not accepted at green box sites to the transfer station. "It (waste) will be accepted free of charge and they will help you unload it," he added.
In addition, he encourages residents to report illegal dumping if they witness it, and for the magistrate to prosecute. "If people continue to abuse the sites, soon we'll lose the green boxes; people will have to go to the transfer station, and everyone will have to pay," he said. "Take pride in where you live."
Woodzell thanks residents who abide by regulations, but pointed out everybody had the same responsibility. "It takes all of us to comply before we can make this a litter-free county."
Jeanette Robinson, a member of Mountain Stream Stewards, a watershed preservation group, said the organization has never tested the water in Gillett's Run, next to the Rocky Ridge dump site, because it isn't one of the selected testing locations. However, she has made multiple complaints to the county about litter in the creek, saying it could pollute the water. "Any stream is going to flow into something else," she said.
Robinson took information to Johnson about bear-proof Dumpsters, but said she didn't know if anything had been researched on that end. As a conservationist, Robinson supports and practices living sustainably. "Water is a finite resource. If we degrade and pollute the water, we're shooting ourselves in the foot," she said.
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