COAL TOWNSHIP - Habitat for Wildlife's Dave Kaleta is frustrated about the lack of prosecutions regarding illegal dumping in our area, and he is looking for help at the federal level.
Kaleta and Mike Handerhan, Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance secretary, took David Weber, district director of U.S. Rep Tom Marino's office in Tunkhannock, on a tour of Coal Township Friday to show him just a few of the many illegal dumping sites.
"We have not had any luck locally getting a response for a plan to combat it," Kaleta said. He claimed that because of the lack of local support, the Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Waste Management will not come here to do any investigations and their investigator won't even return calls.
After more than 10 years of sponsoring cleanups in the area, Habitat for Wildlife and SCRA are frustrated by the lack of support, Kaleta said.
"The epidemic proportion in this area (of illegal dumping) is not only a hazard to the environment, it is a hazard to people," Susan Zaner of SCRA, said before prior to the tour.
Weber, who would not say anything on the record, appeared a bit stunned about the severity of the dumping problem. Among the discarded items were mattresses, old toilets, couches, televisions, construction waste and tires. He even pointed out what may have been a dog carcass among one of the dump sites.
Pulling up to one of the sites in Kaleta's truck, he said, "This is just sad."
Kaleta would like to see the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provide some assistance to local municipalities to combat the problem.
Marino's office provided no official response to The News-Item on Weber's visit.