BY MATT HERSH

When it comes to keeping roadsides and municipal property clean, Salem takes a serious and somewhat exhaustive approach.

On Friday, April 27, the Department of Public Works finished a week-long cleanup of Salem which consumed 512 hours of labor and netted 4.65 tons of litter in 1,050 bags.

The cleanup efforts have become a staple in town over the years with Public Works employees basically halting their other projects in order to concentrate on collecting trash on foot, said DPW Operations Manager Dave Wholley.

“We pretty much shut down for a week to do this,” he said. “We get backlogged, but we feel this is too important of an issue to just write off.”

This year, the cleanup cost Salem just over $10,000. Wholley said this number may seem high to some, but it helps provide a vital service to the community.

The town’s attitude toward beautifying the roadsides has paid off. Each year, DPW workers are finding less trash to pick up. In 2001, the first year of the cleanup, they collected 15 tons of litter. By last year, that number was down to about 6 tons and this year’s numbers are even more impressive, Wholley said.

Wholley said he takes pride in being part of a program which many other towns don’t have. In fact, he said Salem is one of the only towns in the area that dedicates so many hours and resources to cleaning.

“I don’t think there are other departments who do this with the seriousness that we do,” he said.

Windham Highway Agent Jack McCartney said his town doesn’t have a policy for keeping the roads clean because they lack the necessary personnel. Without a formal public works department and only two highway agents, McCartney said Windham does its best to clean up trash when they have the opportunity.

“There are about 10 roads that could be a problem,” he said. “If we’re out there, we’ll clean up as we’re working on other things.”

Windham also relies on local Boy and Girl Scouts to clean the roadsides about twice per year.

Wholley said he’d rather have professionals do the work because of the danger inherent in collecting the litter.

“People think it’s McDonald’s bags and bottles but there are some dangerous things out there that can hurt people,” he said. “You don’t want you kids out there doing that.”

This year, workers found several hazardous items including used hypodermic needles, rusty pieces of metal, broken shards of glass and bottles of used motor oil.

Among the other unusual items found were half of a motorcycle, a car’s engine block, real estate signs and housing shingles.

Though the amount of litter in Salem has been decreasing, Wholley said he’s still somewhat discouraged by some residents’ attitude about littering.

All too often, he said he sees trucks carrying trash with their loads unsecured and litter being scattered as it travels to the transfer station.

Over the years, some DPW workers have had trash thrown at them as they were cleaning the roadsides, Wholley said.

This year, some of the spots that were cleaned by workers had fresh litter only hours later.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” he said. “It’s a shame that some people just don’t care.”