'People need to stop littering': NDOT says trash increasing on interstates
NDOT says trash on interstates seems to be increasing so people need to do their part. OPD works to enforce trash laws in the city.
NDOT says trash on interstates seems to be increasing so people need to do their part. OPD works to enforce trash laws in the city.
NDOT says trash on interstates seems to be increasing so people need to do their part. OPD works to enforce trash laws in the city.
An alleyway in north Omaha filling a neighborhood with trash brought light to some of the illegal dumping and littering issues in Omaha. KETV investigates spoke with NDOT and Omaha Police about how enforcement of trash laws is handled.
Jim Laughlin with the Nebraska Department of Transportation said litter on interstates is increasing. Based off how fast their dumpsters get filled, he believes the amount of trash increased about 30% since 2020.
"If you've seen it on the back of a pickup truck, I've picked it up off the road," Laughlin said.
Four crews of inmates, each with three or four people make their rounds cleaning trash off the interstates almost daily. Each crew is assigned a different sector of interstates.
Laughlin said crews fill eight to 10 yard dumpsters of trash each week but it's not enough.
"I don't have a solution, I wish I did," he said.
Laughlin said the responsibility of keeping the interstates clean needs to fall on the community.
"People need to stop littering," he said.
Within the city of Omaha, Lt. Owen Gregg says he knows trash is an issue. Omaha police officers do regular patrols of known areas for dumping.
"This affects the community, your hard working Joe and Jane who are out there doing work every day they want their neighborhood clean just like you and I do," Lt. Gregg said.
He said officers go after repeat offenders who leave large amounts of trash. In Omaha the penalty for illegal dumping can be a maximum fine of $1,000 or six months jail time.
However, enforcement of trash laws can be difficult. There's a small number of citations that show this.
In 2022, OPD cited 12 people for illegal dumping. This year no one's been cited.
Lt. Gregg said the biggest barrier to enforcing trash laws is gathering enough evidence.
"You try to make your case, but if we don't have probable cause to make an arrest, we're not going to make that arrest," he said.
He said community members can help with this by calling police to make a complaint or calling 911 when you see someone illegally dumping.
"If citizens don't feel like their complaint rises to the level of police attention like they say 'oh you know the police are busy, they have better things to worry about' - that's not true," Lt. Gregg said. "We're here to help the community, we're here to serve our community."
Lt. Gregg said you can call the northeast precinct for trash in north Omaha or the community liaison for your precinct for a dumping complaint.
Southwest: Vanessa Urbach, vanessa.urbach@cityofomaha.org or (402) 444-7928
Southeast: Ofelia Robles, ofelia.robles@cityofomaha.org or (402) 444-7743
Northwest: Lauren Genier, lauren.genier@cityofomaha.org or (402) 444-6224
Northeast: Samantha Flynn-Harter, samantha.flynn@cityofomaha.org or (402) 444-3367
West: Gabi Brockman-Philips, gabrielle.brockman@cityofomaha.org or (402) 444-5923
You can also call the mayor's hotline at (402) 444-5555.