Dump trucks spewing litter have county officials fuming

Those annoying dump trucks rumbling down highways without tarp covers to keep trash from swirling into garbage tornadoes that smack at car windshields and litter roadsides?

The county is cracking down on that.

Most problems start at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority on S.C. Highway 90, where the trucks dump their load and then leave the landfill without securing the tarp, says Danny Knight, executive director of the authority.

Knight asked members of the Horry County Council Tuesday to sign off on the authority’s plan to start charging fees for trucks leaving the landfill without tarps or covers -- $150 for large trucks and $75 for smaller.

“Signs don’t mean a lot, but when the blue lights come on, the tarps will come up,” Knight said.

Knight says police enforcement would help alleviate the trails of roadside litter, especially along eight miles of Highway 90 from the railroad bridge to Tilly Swamp.

“We pick up litter once a month, and two days later you can’t tell it’s been picked up,” Knight said.

The council is inclined to agree that tarp enforcement is needed.

“We can’t stand a litterbug,” said Al Allen, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee. “I pure despise them.”

Allen wants to see more aggressive enforcement of all litterbugs countywide, while some council members suggested tapping the police department to start handing out tickets.

Mark Lazarus, council chairman, says they need to determine whether county police have the authority to ticket litterbugs on state highways, particularly on S.C. Highway 90

Councilman Bill Howard says the county should go a step further, and revisit the rules for how trash is sealed in dump trucks. Even with the tarp on, he says, it still flies out of the truck bed.

The council plans to take up a resolution supporting the landfill’s move to fine trucks without tarps, while county officials are researching their authority to ticket litterbugs on Highway 90.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Dump trucks spewing litter have county officials fuming."