Featured Letter: Stop dumping on us, Southold

To the Editor:

I am a resident of Riverhead Town and reside close to one of the town beaches. On my early-morning walks with my dog, I’ve witnessed people driving into the beach parking lot with bags of trash to stuff into the waste receptacles there. I tried to speak to one man who did this, but he quickly jumped back into his car and sped away, of course, leaving his garbage behind.

I can only assume my neighbors in Southold Town, who are required to pay as they go for their waste removal, seem to think it’s OK to travel into Riverhead with their trash for “free” disposal. Sometimes they even leave broken household items outside the pails. And now that the summer season is upon us, the amount and frequency is already increasing.

Since these pails have no covers, the raccoons, seagulls and even rats, have a feast, leaving a mess.

A quick search of the Southold website revealed that 13-gallon town garbage bags are sold for $.75 each. If one bag were used per day for 365 days, the expense would be $273.75, roughly the amount of the line item on my taxes for refuse and garbage of $270.

I’m sure this public space is not the only one being dumped on, judging from another letter you printed last year of someone complaining about a mess from critters getting into garbage at one of the other beaches. I’m not sure what the solution would be, but perhaps if the people who do this know their dirty little secret is out, they may do the right thing and dispose of their trash at their own expense — and in their own town.

Rose Kundle, RIVERHEAD

To read more letters to the editor, pick up a copy of this week’s Suffolk Times or click on the E-Paper.