Spring cleaning for inmates

Photo provided by the PCSD Harold Barger manages a small team of Putnam County inmates as part of a spring cleaning project initiated by Capt. Steve Fenwick that aims to utilize inmates to help clean and maintain certain locations around the county. The offenders began picking up large-scale, illegally dumped refuse on Thursday.

Spring cleaning for the Putnam County Sheriff's Department doesn't mean dusting shelves and scrubbing walls, it means getting outside to pick up used mattresses, televisions and other illegally dumped items around the county.

"We're going to do as much as we can for the community," Sheriff Scott Stockton said.

"It's a service to the county, the taxpayers and utilizing low-level offenders," Stockton said.

Although the weather was anything but spring-like Thursday when the inmates began the cleaning process, the goal was to get them out and collect large debris before it becomes overly saturated with water and more difficult to recover.

The program was initiated by Capt. Steve Fenwick, in concert with Stockton and uses the expertise of Harold Barger to manage inmates in projects which take offenders who are not a threat to the public and are not a flight risk to help provide public services.

In all, seven mattresses and five large television sets, along with a multitude of smaller debris were removed, all dumped illegally in the county.

At one location items were dumped right alongside the Oakalla Covered Bridge in Madison Township. At another site, people walking along a trail could be seen just beyond the mattress, meaning the pedestrians' view would have included an old, used mattress; a scene Stockton thinks is not just an eyesore for visitors to Putnam County but also causes real problems that cost the taxpayers money and adversely affects the environment.

Illegally dumped items can and have been washed downstream by flooding waterways, transporting the refuse and downstream until it lands on another property or gets caught in a snag on a creek or river flow.

Cleaning the refuse also requires precaution, as it is unknown what exactly lies in waiting at the site of these dumps.

"You have got to be careful going through it, you can contract hepatitis," or other transmitted diseases through contaminated materials.

Inmates are provided with heavy-duty gloves and other materials to be sure they are safe.

Stockton said his first and foremost concern is keeping people safe and in trying to combat illegal dumping, residents should adhere to the old adage "if you see something, say something," but to remain safe in doing so.

"Saying something," may well mean calling the sheriff's department to alert them to what you have seen as opposed to addressing the individuals directly, which could cause a safety concern.

Residents can contact the sheriff's department at 653-3211 if they see any suspicious activity.