Residents of Savell Road have been plagued for months by litterbugs using their street as an illegal dumping ground for all kinds of trash and household garbage. After reaching the tipping point, Sheriff Joedy Pennington said several residents decided to do something about it by installing security cameras.
“For several months, if not years, people have been dumping trash, garbage bags, house furniture, you name it, they’ve been dumping it, on Savell Road,” he said. “Savell Road is not a long road, but that’s where they’ve been dumping it, and the neighbors are fed up with it.”
After each instance, county crews have to clean up the trash and dispose of it, which costs Newton County taxpayers money that should have gone toward other projects.
Last week, Pennington said one of the cameras set up by residents captured an image of a truck driven by some of the dumpers.
“About an hour later, I was looking for the truck and I met it on Beeline Road and turned around on it,” he said.
Dumping is a misdemeanor violation, Pennington said, and each instance carries with it a fine of $500. In this case, he said, there was evidence to charge the dumpers with three counts, which would be a $1,500 fine.
“I gave them a choice. I told them you can pick up everything on this road you did and did not throw out from Beeline Road to Highway 15, or I can charge you with three different violations,” he said. “If I charged them, the county was going to pick it up anyway.”
The dumpers decided to accept Pennington’s offer to avoid charges and picked up the trash.
Although this was only one instance of dumping along Newton County roads, Pennington said he wanted to use it as a warning to others thinking of taking the easy way out disposing of trash.
“For anyone thinking of dumping trash on Savell Road, or any road in Newton County, you never know who is going to see it,” he said.
