Controlling litter continues to be a huge issue for Lafayette County, according to county Solid Waste Manager Kenneth Drewery.

According to a report Drewery presented to the Board of Supervisors Monday, the county roadside litter control picked up over 67 tons of trash on county roads.

“I can’t believe it’s 67 tons of litter,” Supervisor Kevin Frye said.

“Most of it that I’ve seen is because of the growth we’re experiencing,” Drewery said. “And a lot of this stuff is blowing out of the back of pick-up trucks. It’s just not secure. We just try to stay on top of it.”

“The problem is that two days later as soon as you pick it up it’s back the way it was,” Board President Jeff Busby said. “I don’t want the general public to think we’re not trying to address the problem, we actually put a litter crew in the budget a few years ago to address these situations.”

Drewery has a full-time foreman and two part-time crew members on the roadside litter control, as well as the use of folks who work off fines through justice court.

Drewery said calls from the public about particular roads are the “one’s we try to take care of those as quick as we can.”

“You’re never going to keep them clean all the time,” Drewery said. “People are just going to have to start taking a little pride.”

Drewery also said the county receives a grant each year to clean up illegal dumps. He recently found such a dump on County Road 277. The property owner does not live in the area and was unaware of the dump site and has given the county permission to clean up the illegal dump with the use of the grant money. The Department of Environmental Quality requires pictures be taken prior to and after the clean up of the site.

The matter will be put on the agenda for the next board meeting.

Drewery also told the board that in a month’s time during 2015, solid waste crews made approximately 38,000 stops and picked up approximately 800 tons of garbage.