Police Chief: Secure Those Loads!

Police Chief Michael Kehoe is urging that people who are hauling spring cleanup wastes for disposal to be sure that their loads are secured, so that the waste does not fall onto local roads.

Chief Kehoe said this week police receive many complaints in the springtime from residents who are upset that hauled waste has dropped off the trucks that are carrying it, posing public safety hazards.

A local ordinance and a state law on securing loads pertains to wastes privately hauled by individuals and also to wastes commercially hauled by carting firms, the police chief said. The local ordinance carries a $90 fine for violations. The state law also carries monetary penalties.

Vehicles carrying wastes must be loaded so that the load does not drop, sift, leak, fall out, or escape from the vehicle, Chief Kehoe said. Loads must be covered and secured to prevent them from falling onto the roads, he said.