Lawrence, Floyd counties get funds to clean up dumps
Unsightly sites on Mattie Road and Wilbur Road in Lawrence County will be cleaned up thanks to a grant awarded by the state Energy and Environment Cabinet. Eighteen counties, including Lawrence and Floyd, received a total of $587,000 in to clean up illegal open dumps.
By Lilly Adkins
BSN Associate Editor
FRANKFORT — Lawrence and Floyd are among 18 counties to receive a total of $587,000 in to clean up illegal open dumps.
As part of the grant funding, counties agree to provide a 25 percent match of the grant amount. The Energy and Environment Cabinet may waive the match on any individual illegal open dump where cleanup costs exceed $50,000, a press release said.
A release issued by the Lawrence County solid waste coordinator Jim Burchett said that Lawrence County has been approved to receive $16,842.05 from the 2021 Illegal Open Dump Grant Program.
The grant was awarded for the cleanup of the Mattie Road and Wilber Road dumps, Burchett’s release said.
The Mattie Road project is estimated to cost 14,035.04, with a grant amount of $11,228.03 approved, and the Wilber Road dump is projected to cost $7,017.52, with a grant amount of $5,614.02 approved, the release said.
Floyd County received $25,731.65, to clean up three illegal dump sites, according to EEC representative Lisa Evans.
Floyd County code enforcement officer/solid waste director Joe Reynolds said the county is fortunate to have gotten the grant and that they will continue to apply for anything they can to help improve Floyd County.
“We have three dump sites this year and we will have more next year,” Reynolds said. “These three, U.S. 23 dump site in Banner, Stanley Niece Road dump site in Harold and Tackett Branch Road dump site in Grethel, are the ones we have gotten the most calls on, and once we get these sites cleaned up, we are going to place cameras in the area to see exactly what’s being done. We have garbage pickup and we have a transfer station in Martin, so there is no reason for this to be happening.”
Reynolds said they have one year to complete the cleanup of all three dump sites and that they will be using county employees to do the work when they aren’t busy doing other things in the county, which will make up their 25 percent match for the grant.
“One of the sites I estimate can be cleaned up in a day, one might take two days and the other will probably take about four days,” Reynolds said. “We will get them cleaned up and we have plenty of time to do it.”
Grants for the Illegal Open Dump Grant Program come from the Kentucky Pride Fund, which is generated through a $1.75 environmental remediation fee (tipping fee) for each ton of garbage dumped at Kentucky municipal solid waste landfills, a release from Gov. Andy Beshear said.