To get serious about cutting N.C. litter, go to the source

If anyone knows about litter along state highways, it’s state lawmakers. Most of them see plenty of it on their treks between their districts and the capital.

But for some reason they can’t bring themselves to get at the core of the problem. It’s not just about cleaning up. It’s about what is being thrown out and by whom.

State Rep. John Bell, a Wayne County Republican, made a good start on tackling the problem by sponsoring House Bill 100, “The Highway Cleanup Act of 2021.” It originally proposed doubling fines for littering, but the House Transportation Committee revised the bill to keep fines as they are while the state studies how litter laws are being enforced.

Bell agreed with the change. “Before we increase fines and penalties, we want to see how they’re enforced,” he said.

There’s no need to wait for the results of a study. Lawmakers need only ask Michael Murdoch of Carteret County. He’s been leading litter cleanup drives for years and he can tell legislators how litter laws are being enforced. The answer: hardly at all.

In an email, Murdoch told me: “Most sheriffs really only give lip service to enforcement. Some have relegated enforcement to one or two deputies rather than having all the officers take a strict enforcement approach. I believe sheriffs would better serve all of us and the environment by simply writing more tickets.”

Murdoch’s assessment is confirmed by the numbers. The News & Observer recently reported that, “Law enforcement agencies of all kinds issued 1,689 citations for littering in 2020, down about 18% from the year before and (down) 29% since 2016. In those five years, nearly two-thirds of settled littering cases were dismissed.”

The bill provides funds to raise public awareness about anti-littering programs and to educate district attorneys about the need to enforce littering laws. But the bill’s emphasis is on picking up after litterers and people who dump trash on roadsides. It provides $1 million to establish the “Detainees Clean N.C.” program. The funding will help pay overtime to deputies who supervise jail inmates working on roadside cleanup. The bill also calls for a review of returning to using prison inmates for roadside cleanup work. The program was discontinued a few years ago because of the cost of close supervision.

Murdoch said that using inmates to pick up trash confuses the role of volunteer crews and might encourage more littering. “I am concerned about the image of seeing prisoners as the ‘clean up crew’ and how this might look for other volunteers like me who regularly do cleanups,” he said. “Will the public see cleanup crews in a negative light and possibly litter even more?”

I first wrote about highway litter in February after readers complained about the growing eyesore. They were right. The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) had canceled major volunteer clean-up operations because of COVID-19 and budget problems had caused the department to reduce roadside maintenance.

The state has since increased cleanup efforts and restored maintenance funding. NCDOT spokesman R. Harris Kay said that since Jan. 1 state crews, contractors and volunteers have picked up more than 5.5 million pounds of litter and has spent more than $6.2 million on litter removal.

Beyond stricter enforcement of litter laws, Murdoch said, the state should target manufacturers and distributors who make and sell much of the material that ends up tossed on the roadside. He wants those companies required to support anti-litter campaigns, reduce their use of single-use plastics, conduct recycling programs and pay for some of the cleanups.

The message: Focus on preventing litter at least as much as you focus on collecting it. Murdoch said, “We are not going to be able to clean our way out of this.”

Barnett: 919-829-4512, nbarnett@ newsobserver.com