Since the initiative was started, more than 60 citations have been issued, signaling a new get-tough attitude.
By JON WILSON
Published March 21, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Had a pulpit been present, the mayor would have pounded it.
Tracing the reach of a major headache, city officials gathered Wednesday beside three tons of trash in a Midtown vacant lot and announced a crackdown on illegal dumping.
Soggy carpets, shattered mufflers, broken concrete and planks studded with rusty nails illustrated the problem. Mayor Rick Baker delivered a strong message about it.
He said people who come into neighborhoods, dump junk and run constitute an affront to the city - not to mention making it more difficult to redevelop an area targeted for improvement.
"I am outraged by it," Baker said.
"I want the whole bay area to know about it. If people are going to insult our community, I want them to go to jail.'
So far, no one is behind bars.
But since the initiative to stop illegal dumping began gearing up last fall, 62 cases have emerged in Midtown, currently the campaign's focus.
Forty involved commercial littering: tree trimmings, building material, tires and pieces of vehicles and boats.
Another 18 were residential litter such as furniture, paper and household garbage.
Four cases classified as "hazardous material incidents" consisted of items like fuel oil, medical waste and an unidentified white powder.
Charles Krickler, a specially assigned police environmental detective, has investigated 37 of the cases, based on such solvability factors as available leads to identify suspects.
Eleven cases have resulted in prosecution. Krickler, who works fulltime on the dumping problem, said nine persons have pleaded guilty and paid fines. Two other cases are pending in court, he said.
Depending on the size of an illegal load - more than 500 pounds or 100 cubic feet - a jail sentence is not out of the question. It can be as long as five years. A felony offense also can bring a $5,000 fine and law enforcement can seize vehicles used in major cases.
Misdemeanor offenses can bring $56 fines plus $18 per hour police investigation time.
County Commissioner Kenneth Welch was among the group of mostly St. Petersburg leaders who convened in the city-owned Midtown lot at 10th Avenue S and Yale Street.
He said the unincorporated east Lealman area also is fighting a trash battle.
"We've got some of the same problems. I don't know how much of it is illegal dumping as it is folks just not having garbage service," Welch said.
Residents contract on their own for pick-up, Welch said, and sometimes neighbors without service will use will someone's else's.
The result is junk piled up in front of houses, he said.
"The only way to really get around it is to have uniform service throughout the unincorporated area," said Ray Neri, a Lealman civic activist. "That way there's no advantage. Everybody that lives in a place is going to pay for garbage pick-up."
County commissioners are working on a franchise to provide service to everyone in east Lealman, which has several thousand households, Welch said.
In St. Petersburg, where everyone receives garbage service, the problem often is caused by people looking for a place to unload junk without having to pay the $37.50 per ton it costs to dump at the county landfill at 28th Street N and 100th Avenue.
"We have people who come out in the dead of night, dump their loads and keep going," said Freddie Miller of Palmetto Park, one of a half-dozen neighborhood association leaders who came to support the city's initiative.
A city-produced map shows about 18 dumping "hot spots" - vacant lots, alleys, next to Dumpsters - that will get special attention.
And a tip line - 892-5000 - is available to report violations.
