"There are couches, everything, you name it," Blanche Turley, of Rome Township, said as she inventoried the trash along Federal Creek. "There is garbage in bags, mattresses, it's ridiculous. If anyone drives up Federal Creek, they can just see it."

Her story is a familiar one to Chuck Yaniko, coordinator of the Lawrence-Scioto County Solid Waste Management District.

"You get out in the county, on some of these dirt roads, it's terrible," Yaniko said. "I've seen places you would not believe: mounds of garbage, dead animals, rats, mosquitoes."

With this in mind, Yaniko and other local officials are planning to crack down on trash, be it junk cars, illegal dumps or generally unkempt property.

Property owners and others will be given the first half of the year to clean up mess. The second half of the year, Yaniko said errant individuals will be cited into court for noncompliance.

Garbage, garbage, garbage

Most of Lawrence County is rural, making it easier for those who wish to flout the law and dump their trash for free.

"Part of our problem is the amount of government land in the county," Yaniko said. "You can get on these stretches of road where there are no houses, it's open and easy for people to dump there."

For rural landowners, the problem of illegal dumping becomes their own problem whether they like it or not.

Mary Ann Ater, whose property straddles Union and Windsor townships, said illegal dumping on her rural property and that of her neighbors has been an on-going battle.

"I've lived here almost 40 years and it's a constant expense to keep it picked up and hauled off," she said. "We're bounded by woodlands and some small dirt roads and there are hidden places where people come and just dump their trash."

Ater can

recall the time that someone came down her rural road and dropped one old tire after the other along the right of way - 147 tires in all. Another time, hog parts left over from a slaughter were dumped on Ater's land. She said old couches, appliances and other unwanted items are common.

Tired of the situation, Ater and others in her small rural community are in the process of forming a citizen's clean-up group, a non-profit organization aimed at waging war on garbage.

Cleaning up the mess

Yaniko said a number of entities will be working together to combat the trash problem, including his office, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and both municipal court judges.

"Obviously, there needs to be a concerted effort to clean up properties around the community," Ironton Municipal Court Judge O. Clark Collins said. "We're concerned about it, and we've always worked hard to reduce the litter problem. But it gets frustrating. You clean up an area one day and two days later it's a mess again."

While the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency investigates large, so-called "open dumps" that involve numerous individuals dumping refuse over an extended period of time, smaller illegal dumps

are the responsibility of local entities, such as local solid waste districts, health departments and law enforcement agencies.

Yaniko said the OEPA fielded 149 complaints from Lawrence and Scioto counties last year. While littering is considered a misdemeanor in Ohio, illegal dumping is a felony, and fines are stiffer - anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 depending on the offense, and can carry sentences of up to four years in jail.

Since November, three people have been convicted in the county's municipal court system and fined on trash-related charges.

What hurts Ater and others is that, by state law, all property owners are responsible for cleaning up the mess on their property, regardless of who created it.

No burning allowed

Yaniko said burning household waste is illegal in Ohio, period. Wood waste, such as small tree limbs and leaves can be burned only with a permit from the Portsmouth Air Quality office of the OEPA.

A clean sweep

Yaniko said the issue of contractors who illegally dump construction debris is a big problem.

"Especially on our dirt roads and government lands where there are illegal dumps containing shingles, wood, insulation and dry wall," he said.

Late last year, James Mills, 28, of Chesapeake, was fined $500, sentenced to one year's probation, 60 hours of community service and five days in jail after he was convicted of one count of littering.

Mills' arrest came after Windsor Township trustee Donald Adkins dug through the mound of debris left burning on Township Road 82 and found names linking Mills to the mess.

The county has a commercial construction debris site, Iron Valley Landfill near Chesapeake.

Rusting cars, used tires

The crackdown involves junk cars and tires as much as it does bags of trash.

"There is no excuse for having scrap cars setting around everywhere," Yaniko said. "This increases the risk of vermin- and mosquito-borne disease such as West Nile virus and encephalitis."

Yaniko said those who haul scrap tires and such tires must have a specific state license to do so and such items must be taken to a licensed landfill. Questions regarding scrap tires may be answered by calling the Ohio EPA at

(614) 644-2621. Since the county has no such tires disposal sites, Yaniko said, that means there is no reason for trucks to be traveling rural Lawrence County roadways loaded with old tires.

"If we catch you out with a bunch of tires in your truck, you'd better be headed toward Ashland," he said.

Much of what winds up in county creeks and hillsides is actually recyclable.

"Appliances, washers, all of that is recyclable material," he said.

Scrap metal prices right now quite lucrative, Yaniko said, and those who have it might find a financial incentive to get rid of it.

What could be

Turley, who is from the Cleveland area, said she wants to make Lawrence County her permanent home, but the lack of pride displayed by those who dump their trash is appalling.

"To come and see this is terrible," she said.

Ater, who is originally from Lancaster, said Lawrence County has everything it needs to be a tourist attraction: the Ohio river, small creeks that run along hillsides and plenty of rolling meadows. But with the trash marring the landscape, who, she asked, would want to come and visit?

"In Lancaster every little dirt road is clean. It's embarrassing to have people come to visit and they see this," she said. "We could have a gorgeous county, we really could. I think it could develop into a nice place for tourists but as it is, I don't know what people would want to see."