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ST. PETERSBURG - Two workers in the city's sanitation department noticed the truck left the county landfill still fully loaded.
Later when they saw the same truck in Midtown, they became suspicious. So they followed it.
Midtown, the economically depressed area the city is focused on revitalizing, has been a favorite of illegal dumpers who don't want to pay $37.50 per ton to dump at the Pinellas County landfill.
Mayor Rick Baker has branded the dumping an affront to the city. He says an area can't be revitalized if it is considered a dumping ground.
Since last fall, the city's sanitation department stepped up efforts to curb the dumping, thus the vigilance of its two employees who happened to be at the county landfill the same time as the loaded truck.
Illegal dumping is a felony when the weight of the debris left behind is more than 500 pounds.
Benjamin Shirley, assistant director of the city's sanitation department, keeps a chart to track illegal dumping. It shows progress.
"We were picking up anywhere from 10 to 12 tons a week of construction debris, tires, an assortment of stuff," Shirley said. "It is less than half that since we brought the environmental detective aboard."
The driver of the truck in question, however, had not gotten the message. When he started unloading residential construction debris at 1915 10th St. S, the two sanitation workers who followed him called their supervisor and Detective Charles Krickler. Krickler is a police officer assigned to the dumping problem.
After determining the truck driver did not have permission to dump the debris at the address, Krickler arrested him. Jacob Graham, 71, 1901 10th St. S, was charged with commercial littering, a felony, on June 25. His load weighed 4,000 pounds, Krickler said.
Graham spent about eight hours in the Pinellas County Jail before he was released on bail. Police seized the truck used in the dumping. Efforts to reach Graham were unsuccessful.