BALTIMORE, Md. — At first glance, you may think a tornado had leveled a home along Woodbourne Road in West Baltimore, but its man-made—-the discards of illegal dumpers, and a nearby resident, Jihad Wilson, says it recently played a key role in his wife’s car accident.
“Trash in hanging out in the road. She tries to avoid it and winds up wrecking,” said Wilson.
“Was she hurt?” we asked.
“She was hurt pretty bad,” he replied, “She broke the tibia—full fracture. She had to get rods and stuff put inside the leg. It was a really bad accident. It totaled the car."
Illegal dumping costs the city millions of dollars each year, and back in August, it added dozens of new cameras to such hotspots to brings violators to justice.
“In the first two weeks of having the cameras up, we had eight additional cases just on those cameras in those locations so they’re definitely working and we’re in the current budget season so we’re working to get more funding to more cameras,” said DHCD Permits & Litigation Division Dep. Comm. Jason Hessler.
Who are these people behind the illegal dumping?
Well, Hessler says it runs the gamut from unlicensed contractors to small haulers to frustrated landlords.”
Violators found guilty of criminal misdemeanors can be subject to thousands of dollars in fines and cleanup costs, as well as serving up to 90 days behind bars.
The city is hoping additional cameras turn the tide of trash along Woodbourne Road, but residents say they’ll only believe it when they no longer see it.
The trash, that is.
“That was a few months ago,” said Wilson, “I still continuously see the garbage back there. So we ride back there and my kids look out the window and they think it’s like a landfill. It just looks like a dumping area back there so something has to be done about it.”
