LAUREL RUN, Pa. — If you've driven up or down East Northampton Street in Laurel Run, near Wilkes-Barre, over the past day or two, you may have seen garbage bags, illegally, placed along the side of the road on Monday.
Members of the Giants Despair Hillclimb, an annual race on the hill, cleaned up the trash.
"It's an ongoing problem; it's constant. We clean the road about four times a year, and it's a never-ending battle. People just dump and dump and dump. It's ridiculous," said Bill Feist, vice president of Giants Despair Hillclimb Association.
Association members tell Newswatch 16 they were able to identify the people responsible for the dumping.
The dumpers were given 24 hours to remove the waste before legal actions would be taken.
East Northampton Street in Laurel Run isn't the only place that's seeing illegal dumping. Right down the street in Wilkes-Barre Township, officials are seeing an increase in trash, especially in front of people's homes.
"People come out of town, and on garbage night they'll be dropping all the bags of garbage off at people's houses, sometimes, you put out two bags, and you might have four bags in front of your house," said James Youkoski, road supervisor for Wilkes-Barre Township.
Back at Laurel Run, the 16 dumped garbage bags were removed within the 24-hour time period. The Giants Despair Hillclimb Association is calling on the community for help to prevent it from happening again.
"Just an eye out, if you see somebody dumping call us, let us know," said Feist. Go on Facebook and send us a message. If you can get a license plate, that's great, but we have to get to the bottom of it. It has to stop."
The Giants Despair Hillclimb Association works to keep East Northampton Street clean for its annual race, which brings in drivers from all over the country. This year because of the pandemic, the event has been postponed to October 10 and 11, if organizers get the state's OK.