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Fed up with illegal dumping

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Trash along the roads is becoming a common sight in Canton Township. Trash was recently found dumped on the side of Hewitt Avenue in Canton Township.

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This pile of building materials was recently dumped on Ford Street at Marra Avenue. Canton Township officials plan to crack down on illegal dumping.

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Building materials were recently found dumped on Edgewood Drive in Canton Township. State police and township workers are on the lookout for the culprits.

The roadways around Canton Township have been cluttered with dumped garbage and unwanted building material in the past few weeks, Supervisor Robert Franks said.

“There has been a lot of illegal dumping along the roadways,” Franks said Tuesday. “We are not going to tolerate it. State police and our road crews have been notified.”

Franks said anyone caught dumping trash will be prosecuted. “The penalty for illegal dumping is a $1,000 fine and or 90 days in jail,” he said.

Franks said illegal dumping has been a problem along country roads for some time, but that over the last few weeks, the garbage and material really built up along several main roads. The majority of the dumped items are things people would have to pay to dispose of, like sinks and drywall, Franks said.

“Things really started to get bad. We had three incidents,” he said.

Canton Township Code Enforcement officer Chris Hammett said the most recent incidents occurred on Edgewood Drive and Ford Street. Hammett said the dumping has caused safety concerns.

“They are dumping in the roadways, blocking the roadways,” he said. “Someone could run into it with their car.”

While Franks believes several people are to blame, he also suspects the majority of items are coming from the same person or home.

Franks said crews have been sent out to clean up the debris.

“We removed 52 tires recently,” he said. “It is wasting township time and resources.”

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