Oct. 15, 2004 – Bovoni residents should not have to look at the abandoned cars that line the Bovoni landfill road much longer. The Department of Public Works announced a cleanup starting this week.
Wayne Callwood, DPW commissioner, said there are more than 200 illegally dumped, junk cars lining the road. Noting the cars are more than an eyesore, Callwood said the cars present a threat to youngsters. "Children can use them for play areas or scavenging, and could attempt to salvage parts, which may result in a fire."
Removal of the vehicles had been stalled, awaiting a permit for removal of the vehicles from the entrance of the dump.
Sen. Louis Hill said Friday, "The Bovoni residents have been crying for assistance. So I stepped in to help facilitate the process." Contractors are to take the cars where they will be smashed and packaged, and then shipped off-island. According to Hill, there is a contract in place with Lester Ashby and one other contractor.
The landfill quit accepting vehicles in January, because it ran out of room. No vehicles are being accepted now. The junk cars are stacked in some places about four-cars high with wheels and chassis sticking into the air at strange angles looking like alien monsters suddenly halted in an earth visit.
The landfill has been a subject of environmental concern. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last December began looking into how abandoned vehicles towed off St. Thomas and St. John streets, as part of Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's administration beautification project, were being disposed of at the landfill. It has issued no orders affecting the vehicles.
Turnbull's Abandoned Car and Beautification Task Force, chaired by James O'Bryan Jr., an administrator and public relations aide, has removed upward of 1,500 cars found rusting and stripped along roads and in fields.
EPA was concerned whether federal or local laws were violated by the Task Force's failure to detoxify the cars by removing fluids, tires and batteries before hauling them to the dump.
O'Bryan was unavailable for comment Thursday and was in a meeting Friday morning.
Callwood cautioned persons thinking about taking cars to the landfill. "The cars will be removed from the access roads, and large boulders will be put in their place to deter additional vehicles from taking their place," he said in a press release.
Litter enforcement officers will be patrolling the area and will cite anyone caught illegally disposing of vehicles or any other litter violations, according to Callwood.
"The Bovoni landfill will not be accepting any more vehicles until further notice," he said.
For information, call DPW at 776-4844 or the landfill at 775-3665.
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