Taxpayer Cost Of Litter in Kentucky

While I write about ocean litter and marine debris, one should remember that polluted water and plastic pollution is not just at beaches. Take for instance Kentucky who has lakes and ponds, waterways and rivers. Each of these sites is open to pollution, illegal dumping and litter.

44 Lakes in Kentucky
69 Major Rivers in Kentucky
38 State Parks
3 State Forests
2 State Historic Sites
1 National Park
1 National Forest
1 National Historic Park
2 National Wildlife Refuges

These are just the out of pocket costs to the taxpayer through taxes. This does not include cleanup in Park and Recreation, national parks, Bureau of Land Management, private citizen clean up, indirect cost to business owners, lost of income to tourist sites and to home values.

For Litter Eyes Only

2013: Counties cleaned up 186 illegal open dumps at a cost of $2.4 million. The average cost to clean up each dumpsite was $12,957.

2013: The Kentucky Pride Fund, Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, Bluegrass Greensource, Transportation Cabinet, Adopt-A-Highway, and cities and counties contributed to the cleanup of 11,601,380 pounds of litter at a cost of $8.3 million during 2013. The average cost of litter picked up in 2013 was 72 cents per pound.

2013: Superfund Branch, 222 contaminated residences were reported and 83 residences were decontaminated through the Methamphetamine Lab Cleanup Program in KY

2014: 515,191 bags of litter on 170,478 miles of Kentucky roadways.

2014: Counties cleaned 102 illegal open dumps at a cost of $761,347. The average cost to clean up each dumpsite was $7,524. (Division of Waste Management)

2014: The Kentucky Pride Fund, Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, Bluegrass Greensource, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Adopt-A-Highway, and cities and counties across the commonwealth contributed to the cleanup of 10,303,820 pounds of litter at a cost of $8.1 million during 2015. The average cost of litter picked up in 2015 was 79 cents per pound.

2014: Superfund Branch, 94 contaminated residences were reported as having suspected methamphetamine contamination and 49 residences were decontaminated through the Methamphetamine Lab Cleanup Program in FY16

2015: 713,379 bags of litter on 180,697 miles of roadways. Most of the items found on roadways are plastic bottles and food containers

2017: Fayette County Alone (Source)

Lexington: 50 tons of trash,,
Adopt-a-Spot, 18-tons of Trash
Great American Cleanup volunteers, 37-tons,
Inmates, 17-tons,
City workers, 23-tons.
Panhandler’s program operated by New Life Day CenterL 38-tons,
867 Bags of trash and 6 tires: 65.7 Miles of highway in Logan Country: May 2017

2017: Breathitt County, Ky. (WKYT) – Breathitt County Solid Waste Coordinator Calvin Saum says Fiscal Court spent $8,000 cleaning up an illegal dump in the county and two weeks later it’s back a mess. (Source )

2017:Kentucky Energy Officials Finalize $95K Fine for Illegal Radioactive Fracking Dump (Source)

2018: FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 16, 2018) — Approximately $1.5 million in grant funding has been awarded for the cleanup of 108 illegal dumps in 20 counties across the commonwealth (Lane Report)

Cost of Litter:

$46,132 Litter Abatement Logan County
$32 million Cost of Illegal Dumping between 1993 and 2000, counties cleaned more than 16,000 illegal dumps. More than 25,600 illegal open dumpsites have been cleaned up since 1993.

Resources

NEWS
1-888-NO DUMPS (663-8677). If you see someone dumping trash illegally, call www.waste.ky.gov/programs/rcla/dumps.htm.