Residents worry as trash litters roads to the landfill

Residents along the back roads to the Hill County Landfill east of Havre have said they are noticing a large amount of garbage by their roads and in their fields - despite the chance of people being ticketed for not securing their trash - and they are wondering if the county is planning to do something about it.

Amber Turner, who lives on Clear Creek Road, said that they have seen garbage on the road from before Clear Creek, on Bullhook and down the dump road, and even on the Baltrusch Nature Trail. She adds that the wind seems to blow the garbage toward the eastern side of the nature trail.

There are also wheat fields that the garbage seems to be getting into, she said.

Joe Seidel, who owns land along the way to the landfill, said he sees the garbage all the time.

Seidel added that he usually sees new garbage every day and most of the time he has to clean it up or it remains on the road or hanging on the fences.

Landfill manager Brad Tommerup said that they have received complaints about garbage on the side of the road leading up to the landfill. He said that most complaints have involved large items, such as a mattress, falling off a truck.

Tommerup added that they are trying to resolve this situation and have a full-time worker who goes along the roads to the landfill, which is overseen by the Hill County Planning Office, cleaning up the garbage.

Each load needs to be tarped and if a police officer sees a truck without a tarp, he said, he hopes they will be ticketed.

Tommerup said that when trucks arrive at the landfill without a tarp they have the right to turn them away, but the landfill workers are afraid that if they turn people away they will just lose more garbage along the drive home.

He added that the majority of the people who bring trash to the landfill do come without a tarp.

It seems that garbage falling off is not the only thing that bothers residents along the landfill route. Some people say that they have seen people get lost on their way to the landfill and just dump their garbage on the side of the road.

Turner said that she has seen mattresses, trash, beer cans, and a recliner on Clear Creek Road, and said she feels it has to do with people dumping their trash when they can't find the landfill.

"I have seen them dump it (garbage) in the lane," Seidel said

Turner said that some people living along the way to the landfill did contact the county and request several times that a landfill sign be placed along the road. It was eventually placed, but it is very small and on the backside of a stop sign.

Tommerup said he does agree with the sign being too small and that he would eventually like the county to put in a bigger sign.

He added that, for now, they would like residents to use the other way to the landfill, off U.S. Highway 2 East, which is paved and has a larger sign.

He said that the back way to the landfill gets quite muddy and, along with getting a larger sign, he would like to get it paved or put gravel on it.

Tommerup said he would like the public to know how important it is to tarp garbage loads. It is bad for the environment and the people living along the road, he said, and it takes a lot of manpower to clean everything up.