‘Constant battle;’ People frustrated with illegal dumping in Dayton neighborhood

DAYTON — People living in a Dayton neighborhood said the most recent illegal dump has them worried for their safety.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, neighbors said last week brown boxes filled with bottles of hand sanitizer were dumped and left in the Santa Clara neighborhood off North Main Street. It’s a problem neighbors say is common there.

“We had trucks lined up and down the street, and they just empty the stuff there and I don’t know if they ran out of space and just left it there but, you sit there and you say, ‘Well, I know what’s going to happen next, people are going to come and start stealing,’” said David Underwood.

Underwood said the street he and his wife have lived on for more than two decades is treated like a dumping ground. Couches, tires, trash, and wood pellets can be spread throughout the back alley.

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“Well, it makes you want to move out of the neighborhood,” Underwood said.

Tracy Calloway said she feels the same way because of how often she sees it.

“Daily, especially in the back of the house,” said Calloway.

Both Underwood and Calloway said they have called police and reached out to the city for help.

“It’s a constant battle for us just being honest with that,” said Fred Stovall with the Dayton Public Works Department.

Stovall said the city was aware of illegal dumping in that area but did not know about the hand sanitizer.

“We are going to try to address the situation, clean it up the best we can. We’ll also want to catch the culprits thats doing this so we can charge them to the fullest extent of the law for doing the illegal dumping,” Stovall said.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said they are actively investigating how the boxes got there and why. Anyone with information is asked to call the EPA at 614-644-3020.

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