MINDEN, WV (WOAY) – Two days ago, Oak Hill Police received notice from a concerned Minden resident about trash that was piling up off of the hillside on Old Minden Road.
The city has since been able to clean up most of it, but the illegal dumping is now under investigation by Oak Hill Police.
“Unfortunately we have to go through the trash and see if there is anything identifiable in the trash and just get to checking in to see why that trash is there and not at the landfill where it should be,” Chief Mike Whisman said.
One person or multiple people have allegedly been dumping their trash over the hill on Old Minden Road and in small places across the community.
According to Oak Hill City Manager Bill Hannabass, because Minden is part of Oak Hill, the city had to go in and use their own resources to get it cleaned up.
“It took a lot of man power and a lot of equipment and a lot of dump trucks to get that trash out,” Hannabass said. “We have more important things to do to provide better services to folks that live in Oak Hill. We’d rather not be having to take care of people that are responsible enough to throw their trash over the hill. It will not be tolerated.”
But this is an ongoing problem in Minden. On top of everything else, this adds to the environmental issues they have already been having as Darrell Thomas says the community feels like Oak Hill’s dumpster.
“You got PCBs. You’ve got E.coli. You’ve got the garbage. You’ve got Arsenic. You’ve got acid mine drainage. You got a host of chemicals that’s coming down where people spray their yards and stuff in town and when it rains and floods, it comes down in our yards,” Thomas said. “It’s just one, big toxic dumping ground.”
While Oak Hill Police investigates, Chief Whisman wants to remind everyone of the weight this crime carries.
“It’s pretty serious. I think it starts out about a $500 fine up to about a $2,500 fine and there is jail time that can go along with that.”
If have any information regarding the open dump sites, you are encouraged to call the Oak Hill Police Department at (304) 465-0596.
