Trash loads must be covered; most aren't

Jeannie Owens cares about the appearance of her property and her neighborhood.

As a real estate agent and owner of many properties, she knows how much land and homes are worth, but her distaste for trash has more to do with personal pride than with her business ties to the land.

That's why she was disheartened a few weeks ago when she pulled out of her subdivision near Jackson's southern limits and onto Highway 25 behind a truck that was hauling trash from the Lemons Waste transfer station in Jackson to the dump at Dexter.

"Plastic was blowing out all over the place between my house and Gordonville," she said. "I couldn't tell if it was covered. There was too much trash blowing out to tell."

State law requires that all motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers operating on public highways are required to secure materials that may become dislodged and fall from the vehicle due to wind or air pressure or by the vehicle's movement. The vehicles "shall have a protective cover or be sufficiently secured."

Trash blowing out of trucks also violates the state's litter law, according to Terry Ball of the Department of Natural Resources' enforcement division.

Yet a large portion of the public appears to be unaware or unconcerned about the class C misdemeanor.

"I would say about 80 percent don't cover their loads," said Lindsay Sample, the Cape Girardeau transfer station supervisor.

For the most part, he said, it's not the garbage trucks -- some of which come from the city and others from private waste companies -- that are the problem, because they are self-contained garbage haulers. It's the trucks that come from construction sites or individuals hauling off trash that cause the problem.

There has been some communication at recent regional litter-control meetings between Cape Girardeau's transfer station employees and the police department.

Cape Girardeau nuisance abatement supervisor Ty Metzger said the department, including the patrol division, is starting to crack down on uncovered hauls.

"If we see that there is a chance that your load could be dislodged, there's a good chance you're going to get a summons," he said.

He said since last week, officers have patrolled areas near the city limits and on the interstate, looking for uncovered or insecure loads.

Reagan Holliday, assistant city attorney in Cape Girardeau, said fines for not securing a load have generally been about $100. But most of the previous citations in the past dealt with situations that caused accidents. She said a fine that didn't cause an accident would probably run between $50 and $100 plus court costs.

In Jackson, the city collects the trash, but does not own the transfer station. It is owned by Lemons Waste. A call to Lemons Waste Systems Friday was not returned.

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