Published: November 14, 2008 04:11 pm      

Make it shine! McDowell cleanup program is remarkable

McDowell officials’ initiative to clean up their county have earned the southern area a well-deserved, first-place award. The McDowell County Solid Waste Authority recently won first-place honors in the “West Virginia Make It Shine” competition.

“This is not just an award for solid waste, but an award for the county,” Randall Patton, vice chairman of the county’s Solid Waste Authority, told the Daily Telegraph. “There were many different folks involved in this. It’s just a great thing for the citizens of the county. We are not going to rest until the county is clean. It’s a team effort.”

There’s no denying McDowell County’s image has suffered a black eye in the past due to disrepair, junk, litter and dilapidated buildings. But officials have countered with a renewed emphasis on county cleanup with a multitude of programs and initiatives.

Among the new programs this year was the first annual “Litter Getter” campaign held in the spring. As part of the program, officials went into every community in the county in search of violators. When an individual was found to be in violation of litter control ordinances, a notice was issued to the property owner. More than 105 property owners received a notice of violation, and were given a specific time period to correct the violations or citations or warrants would be issued.

As a result of the campaign, more than 80 percent of the property owners who received a notice of violation cleaned up their properties.

Wow! That is certainly a success story other counties may want to implement.

Also, the new Copper Ridge Landfill, located in the Capels community near Welch, has helped with clean up in the county by offering one free day a month to dispose of trash and litter. During the Litter Getter campaign, the landfill provided an extra three free dump days. These additional free days resulted in an extra 227.5 tons of waste disposal.

That’s not all, the city of Welch worked in conjunction with the solid waste authority to provide two opportunities for free disposal of metal and tires at no cost to county residents. These collections netted the disposal of 27.80 tons of metal and 4,927 tires at the landfill.

And there’s more. The “Clean It Green It” campaign initiated by the county commission has resulted in the removal of more than 20 condemned or abandoned homes throughout the county.

Other projects in the county include:

— The use of inmates from the Stevens Correctional Center to help with clean-up efforts in the county.

— The cleanup of a local stream and participation in an Earth Day celebration by students from Mount View High School in Welch.

— A community meeting attended by mayors of towns across the county in an effort to raise the level of community involvement concerning the removal of litter.

— And efforts by the Elkhorn Creek Watershed and Anawalt Watershed in helping with the clean up of streams in the county.

These ongoing projects in McDowell County certainly warrant their recognition with the “Make it Shine” competition.

We are proud of the efforts officials and residents in the county have put forth to make their community a better place. And we hope to see these worthwhile clean-up endeavors continue in the future.