Inspectors motivated by pride in city

WORCESTER — When Matt Lucier, a nuisance control officer for the Department of Public Works, sees evidence of illegal dumping, it's personal.

Worcester isn't just the city that employs him. It's where he was raised and has chosen to settle his family.

So, he takes exception to the piles of waste and bulky items left on the side of roads and in wooded areas by people who don't care about the city as much as he does.

“Some people think it's OK to just dump their trash in people's neighborhoods,” Mr. Lucier said as he drove around Worcester checking illegal dumping hot spots for trash. “How do you change people's thoughts?”

It may not be possible to change the mentality of those who use Worcester as their personal Dumpster, but the city has been able to change their actions. In the five years since Commissioner of Public Works and Parks Robert L. Moylan Jr. successfully advocated for a tougher illegal dumping ordinance and for surveillance cameras in hot spot areas, illegal dumping has dramatically decreased. Under the pilot program, the city has been able to fine up to three times the amount of cleanup costs through civil cases in Housing Court.

Since early 2006, the city has been able to successfully prosecute illegal dumpers, winning a total of $5,000 in the six cases it has brought to court. The money goes back to enforcement measures. The city has the ability to place cameras in any area deemed to be popular with dumpers. DPW workers believe the knowledge a camera could be capturing a person's actions is a powerful deterrent.

“Now, the law has teeth, we can actually enforce it,” Mr. Lucier said. “Within the past three years, we've cut in half the tonnage picked up for illegal dumping.”

Discarding trash isn't generally a crime that makes headlines, and when the city goes after people for it, it's generally a civil case. However, the impact of illegal dumping on a community cannot be underestimated. Mr. Moylan, also a city resident, has heard the whisperings and flat-out assertions that Worcester is a “dirty city.” He adamantly disagrees, particularly since taking a hard stance on dumping. His “Keep Worcester Clean” committee meets twice monthly to review complaints and the success of cleanup efforts.

“It's been an issue we've dealt with for a number of years,” Mr. Moylan said. “I believe we've led the way statewide to bring dumpers to justice. And, really, it's not the problem it used to be.”

Still, illegal dumping is on Mr. Lucier's radar daily. As a nuisance control officer, he patrols trash routes a day after pickup, warning or fining residents who disregard the city trash ordinance by leaving out trash too early or in non-compliant bags. Often, he'll come across trash discarded by residents, who may or may not be caught on camera.

If there is no video of the crime, Mr. Lucier searches for the next best thing: tossed-out mail or pill bottles with a person's address, perhaps.

On Davis Street, a hill off Piedmont Street that has no homes, Mr. Lucier took a quick look at bags of Styrofoam thrown on the side of the road. He tossed them in the back of his truck, noting workers will sift through them at the DPW to check for evidence of their source. Across the street, he got lucky: after finding a few pill bottles with the address labels ripped off, he came across a soggy piece of mail with a name and address.

As sloppy as illegal dumping is, those who do it are often meticulous in erasing evidence that will lead back to them. Mr. Lucier found seven bags of trash on Stafford Street last week. Though all were filled with multiple pieces of mail, the address had been cut out of each one.

The dumpers might as well have taken that time to recycle the trash or discard it in a city trash bag, Mr. Lucier said.

In April, the city reached an $800 settlement with an Oxford resident who backed up a U-Haul and threw out a large pile of debris in the city.

“It's an affront to those of us who believe so much in this community,” Mr. Moylan said. “Even more of an affront is when people come into our city and think they can dump with impunity.”

The most dumped-on areas tend either to be the most urban or in quiet, tucked away areas, people think they won't get caught. The rear of State Liquors on Park Avenue is no longer a dumping hot spot because of cameras and barriers. Swan Avenue, a largely unpaved, bumpy road off Mill Street, has been a dumper's haven.

Though some do come from out of town to dump in the city, Mr. Lucier believes the vast majority are city residents; in half of the cases in Housing Court, the dumpers were from Worcester.

One never knows, however, when an alert neighbor or camera may be watching.

“People get fed up,” Mr. Lucier said. “Not everyone who lives in these neighborhoods doesn't care about how they look.”

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