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CHESTERFIELD COUNTY -
An update on a Chesterfield road neighbors describe as unsightly and smelly. It's an illegal dumping ground on Genito Place. That's just off of Genito Road near Brandermill. Thursday CBS 6 questioned the Virginia Department of Transportation when our cameras captured mounds of debris stacked up near the future sight of a multimillion dollar sports complex. Debris, like tires, old kid's toys, appliances, carpet, and even deer carcasses.
"We didn't even know about the illegal dumping until we got a call from you" said VDOT spokersperson Dawn Eischen. She says once they realized they were responsible for maintaining the dead end road, they dispatched a clean up crew. Less than twenty four hours after our investigation, the area was almost completely clear. Eischen says the workers will return in about a week or so to pick up the remaining trash and to put up a barricade to keep cars from driving down and dumping in that area.
Nearby workers say it's a good start. Jim Lehr, a manager at Genito Mini Storage says illegal dumping along that road has been a problem for almost the entire seventeen years he's worked at the storage facillity. He says in the past police have patrolled the area and he knows they've even sifted through garbage bags searching for anything to identify who dumped the trash.
The ironic part, Lehr says, is that the violators who use the Genito Place site as a makeshift landfill are only a mile away from a Chesterfield county dump. Our CBS 6 investigation not only sparked action from VDOT, one local man took a special interest too. Charles Franger showed up Friday morning with a box of trash bags, work gloves and a whole lot of determination. He says "I'm unemployed. I have alot of time, but I just wanted to come out and pick up the trash."
Franger doesn't even live in Chesterfield county, but that didn't stop him. He says "My sister is an environmental lawyer and she would just have a fit if she saw this." Franger was pleasantly surprised when he showed up to find the area almost completely clear. "It's not all that bad out here now that VDOT has come out. It's alot better now that they've come out" says Franger.
Chesterfield police and VDOT officials say they will be keeping a sharp eye out for violators. If you're caught dumping illegally, it's a misdemeanor which carries up to a year in jail and a fine no less than two hundred fifty dollars and no more than twenty five hundred dollars.
"We didn't even know about the illegal dumping until we got a call from you" said VDOT spokersperson Dawn Eischen. She says once they realized they were responsible for maintaining the dead end road, they dispatched a clean up crew. Less than twenty four hours after our investigation, the area was almost completely clear. Eischen says the workers will return in about a week or so to pick up the remaining trash and to put up a barricade to keep cars from driving down and dumping in that area.
Nearby workers say it's a good start. Jim Lehr, a manager at Genito Mini Storage says illegal dumping along that road has been a problem for almost the entire seventeen years he's worked at the storage facillity. He says in the past police have patrolled the area and he knows they've even sifted through garbage bags searching for anything to identify who dumped the trash.
The ironic part, Lehr says, is that the violators who use the Genito Place site as a makeshift landfill are only a mile away from a Chesterfield county dump. Our CBS 6 investigation not only sparked action from VDOT, one local man took a special interest too. Charles Franger showed up Friday morning with a box of trash bags, work gloves and a whole lot of determination. He says "I'm unemployed. I have alot of time, but I just wanted to come out and pick up the trash."
Franger doesn't even live in Chesterfield county, but that didn't stop him. He says "My sister is an environmental lawyer and she would just have a fit if she saw this." Franger was pleasantly surprised when he showed up to find the area almost completely clear. "It's not all that bad out here now that VDOT has come out. It's alot better now that they've come out" says Franger.
Chesterfield police and VDOT officials say they will be keeping a sharp eye out for violators. If you're caught dumping illegally, it's a misdemeanor which carries up to a year in jail and a fine no less than two hundred fifty dollars and no more than twenty five hundred dollars.
