On December 14, Keep PA Beautiful announced two individuals were cited for illegal dumping by the City of Arnold in Westmoreland County with the help of its Surveillance Camera Loan Program.
Mitchell C Swann (age 53) and Harold J Lee (age 52) were both cited by City of Arnold Code officer Scott Ponteri for illegal dumping.
Swann was found guilty of scattering rubbish for dumping debris from a contractor job into an abandoned lot on 9/13/2018. He paid a fine and cleaned up his trash.
Lee was found guilty of dumping furniture and other household items on 9/26/18. He paid a fine plus $150 restitution to reimburse the city for removing what he had dumped. Both cases were heard by the Honorable Frank J Pallone, Jr.
According to Officer Ponteri, “The cameras are working as a great deterrent and dumping has decreased at the site. We’re happy to be working with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to turn around the dumping problem the city has been dealing with the past few years.”
In addition to the KPB camera loan, Officer Ponteri and the city of Arnold have stepped up other efforts to curb trash, including deploying additional cameras at different locations that had been donated by a resident.
“Illegal dumping is more than just unsightly. It attracts disease-spreading pests like rodents and mosquitoes, can contaminate water and soil, and also brings a financial burden to our communities as they are often who must clean up the trash,” explained Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful found that on average, it costs local communities $600/ton or nearly $3,000 for an average illegal dump cleanup.
The Surveillance Camera Loan Program is funded by the Department of Environmental Protection from fines that the state agency receives for environmental infractions. These cameras are able to capture high quality, prosecution-worthy photos, even of license plates at night.
For more information on the program, visit KPB’s Surveillance Camera Loan Program
Municipalities and other agencies can find out more about the program at IllegalDumpFreePA.org, or contact Rob Dubas by sending email to: rdubas@keeppabeautiful.org or calling 724-836-4121 ext 107.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.
(Photo: Example of a nighttime photo from KPB’s surveillance camera equipment.)
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