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Sussex must clean up roadways

March 6, 2017

Trash.

It's everywhere – and it's spreading like an epidemic along the back roads of Sussex County.

Sofas, clothes, bags of trash. Our roads are a dumping ground.

Back in July 2015, county officials talked about trash. Their solution was to put money in the budget for tips called in to Delaware Crime Stoppers and to encourage county staff to report complaints to the Environmental Crimes Unit, a division of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Needless to say, 18 months later, our roads are still trashed.

It's nearly impossible to catch a person in the process of dumping, but does that mean we should throw up our hands and give up?

So far, that's the route county officials are taking; they say roads are the state's jurisdiction so it's up to Department of Transportation and DNREC officials to investigate and enforce littering laws.

County officials have also encouraged citizens to join nearly 300 volunteer Adopt-A-Highway groups statewide working hard to clean up our roadways.

But blaming the state and encouraging volunteers just isn't enough.

We need to start with a clean sweep of the worst areas, which could be identified by asking residents to report litter.

Cameras could be used in the worst areas to help identify offenders. Sussex County could partner with Sussex Correctional Institution to use inmates to assist in a major cleanup.

County officials could also call for relaxing Adopt-A-Highway rules so communities that clean up near their developments can have bags picked up for disposal without being required to adopt a full two-mile stretch of road.

Relaxing the requirements may encourage many more small groups to participate in road cleanups.

Sussex should also follow the lead of Sussex towns such as Rehoboth and develop a countywide schedule of free pickup of bulky items. Trash on our roadways is unacceptable and cannot be ignored. It's an affront to everyone who lives and travels in Sussex County.

The real question is what price are we willing to pay to reclaim the natural beauty of our back roads?

 

  • Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood. 

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