MILLVILLE, Pa. — Dumpsters at the Animal Resource Center yard sale site in Columbia County are not for public use. Volunteers with ARC say people in the area have been dumping their trash here for quite some time.
"In the past three or four months, we've had people putting stuff in our dumpster—cat litter and so forth, and it got to be bigger and bigger things," Lin Bird said.
Volunteers recently went through the dumpster to see if they could find mail linking a name to the folks who are dumping trash here.
"It's very disgusting. The papers were full of yogurt, cigarette butts, and all kinds of nasty stuff," Debbie Bafile said.
The organization pays $2,000 dollars a month to have the dumpster emptied. The organization has to use the money it raises for its animals at the shelter to pay for dumpster costs.
"It costs $600 dollars a week for our dumpster because we have to have it dumped twice, and that takes a lot away from our animals."
The Animal Resource Center says that folks are also dropping off unwanted items at the yard sale site when they are closed.
Items in good condition can be dropped off Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the site on Skatetown Road.
Volunteers with ARC tell Newswatch 16 that they will be installing surveillance cameras, and anybody who is caught illegally dumping may face a fine of up to $250.