County workers have been busy with increased reports of illegal dumping in the county, including Woodland Cemetery near Vanceburg and Thorpe Ridge Road.
Judge Executive George Sparks said workers recently cleaned up that area and several others after receiving reports of the illegal activity, adding that information has been gathered to prosecute those responsible.
“We have been able to collect some information not only from the material that had been dumped, but also from electronic monitoring,” Sparks said.
That information is being passed along to the county attorney’s office for possible prosecution of those responsible.
Sparks said the county attorney’s office has been successful on multiple occasions in prosecuting those responsible for illegally dumping garbage and other materials.
Lewis County has an ordinance on the books, enacted in 2003, that requires accepted disposal of solid waste by everyone in the county.
The ordinance was enacted to help address illegal dumping in the county and to ensure proper disposal of all solid waste. The state had stepped up efforts about that same time to enact measures aimed at curbing illegal dumping and creating solid waste management plans to reduce environmental impacts.
According to Kentucky law (KRS 512.010), litter “means rubbish, refuse, waste material, offal, paper, glass, cans, bottles, trash, debris or any foreign substance of whatever kind or description and whether or not it is of value.”
Violations of Kentucky’s litter laws (including roadside littering, illegal dumping on your own or another’s property, and littering in public waters) are misdemeanor offenses.
Sparks said reports of illegal dumps have increased in the past few months as leaves have fallen from trees resulting in better visibility in remote areas.
To report an illegal dump or someone involved, you should contact the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office or Lewis County Solid Waste Office.
For information concerning the county’s solid waste and garbage collection regulations, contact Solid Waste Coordinator Roger Lewis at 606-796-0624 or 606-541-7870.
A list of Lewis County permitted solid waste haulers and their contact information may be found at www.lewiscountyky.gov under the solid waste department tab.
LEWIS COUNTY FISCAL COURT ORDINANCE NO. 2003-08
AN ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO COMPULSORY COLLECTION IN LEWlS COUNTY; PERMITS FOR COLLECTORS/HAULERS; SETTING A CEILING FOR FEES TO BE CHARGED; SETTING FORTH OBLIGATIONS OF PERMITTED COLLECTIONS/HAULERS; ALLOWING FOR COUNTYWIDE COLLECTION BY COLLECTORS/HAULERS; PROVIDING FORt RULES AND REGULATIONS TO BE ADOPTED BY THE SOLID WASTE COORDINATOR; SETTlNG FORTH AN APPEAL PROCEDURE AND SETTING FORTH PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THE ORDINANCE.
WHEREAS, the Lewis County Fiscal Court is aware of the movement by Kentucky State Government toward compulsory solid waste pickup, and
WHEREAS, Lewis County has appointed a Solid Waste Advisory Committee to study the issue and its impact on the citizens of the County and the solid waste collectors/haulers, and
WHEREAS, after a number of meetings and public hearings concerning the issues, and after consideration by the Lewis County Fiscal Court, this ordinance is drafted to address various issues relating to solid waste;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY ORDAINED BY THE FISCAL COURT OF THE COUNTY OF LEWIS, COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, THAT:
SECTION 1 – DEFINlTlONS
For the purpose of this ordinance, the following terms shall be deemed to have the meaning indicated below:
• Permitted Collector/Hauler: A person granted a permit by Lewis County for the purpose of collecting, hauling, transporting and disposing of solid waste.
• Person: Any individual, partnership, corporation, association, Joint stock company, trust, estate, political subdivision or organization of any kind, or their legal representative, agent or assigns.
• Solid Waste: Any garbage, refuse, sledge and other discarded material including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from any residential use. But does not include industrial, commercial. mining (including coal mining waste, coal mining by-products, refuse and overburden), agricultural operations, and from community activities, and further does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (86 Stat. 880), or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923) or recycling material or yard wastes.
• Yard Wastes: Grass clippings, leaves, tree trimmings and shrub trimmings.
• Occupant: Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others, is in actual possession of any dwelling unit, commercial establishment, or any other improved real property, manufactured or mobile home, either as an owner, user or tenant.
SECTlON 2- COMPULSORY COLLECTlON
All occupants as defined herein, including any person or persons occupying, or utilizing any improved real estate, manufactured or mobile home as a residence, meeting place or commercial establishment, temporary or permanent, shall be and are hereby required to utilize an available legally permitted solid waste hauler/collector, to collect and transport all solid waste, unless exempted pursuant to Section 3 herein.
SECTION 3 – EXEMPTION FROM COMPULSORY COLLECTION
Any occupant, as defined herein, may apply to the Solid Waste Coordinator for an exemption from the mandatory means of solid waste collection as set forth hereunder, only in the following situations:
1. Satisfactory proof to the Solid Waste Coordinator not less than once each month, that the occupant has legally disposed of the solid waste at his or her residence, by providing proof in the form of a validated receipt or ticket from a legally operated landfill clearly showing that the occupant making application, or a member of his or her household, has disposed of the solid waste at the landfill.
2. Provide proof satisfactory to the Solid Waste Coordinator that the resident or occupant recycles one-hundred (100%) percent of his or her solid waste.
SECTION 4 – PERMITS
No person shall be permitted to collect, haul or transport any solid waste not generated at a site owned or occupied by the person collecting, hauling or transporting such solid waste, without first obtaining a permit from the Lewis County Judge Executive or his designee.
All permitted haulers shall pay a permit fee of $25.00 per year to the Lewis County Fiscal Court, for the year 2004. The permit fee shall be paid by the 10th day of January. All later annul permit fees shall be paid on or before December 15 preceding.
