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Councilman proposes strong penalty for illegal dumping

PITTSBURGH — Earlier this month, Target 11 uncovered mounds of trash piling up in several Pittsburgh neighborhoods. There are more than 400 illegal dump sites in the city.

On Monday, Channel 11's Brandon Hudson found out how City Council plans to put a stop to the illegal dumping.

City Councilman Dan Gilman said this stems from complaints all over the city. He said he wants to keep businesses accountable because they found strange things in the dump sites, including old appliances, sludge and a goat.

“I want to make sure if you want to do business with the city, you’re not dumping into someone’s back yard,” Gilman said.

Officials said the city recently installed six new surveillance cameras in hopes of catching businesses in the act. The legislation is the next step in re-enforcing the rules.

Under Gilman’s proposal, if a business is caught illegally dumping, it’s banned from working with the city for three years.

“That is to say, you can’t bid on a city contract or part of any URA programs for three years,” Gilman said.

According to Gilman, two businesses have been cited this year. However, they would not be penalized under the proposed legislation if it’s passed.

“In many cases, we can’t clean them out for safety reasons. It’s hard for us to get workers safely down in there to clean,” Gilman said.

Gilman said the legislation has gotten a good response, so far. The City Council will discuss the matter next week.