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Trash on wheels

One unsafe truck bringing trash into Virginia is one too many.

Date published: 5/12/2004

Sting gives new meaning to 'garbage truck'

REP. JO ANN DAVIS, R-1st, has released figures from a Virginia State Police sting operation of a year ago that found many of the trucks hauling out-of-state trash into Virginia were unsafe. Sixteen trucks out of 38 pulled over were taken out of service.

In fairness, police point out that this sampling, taken in May 2003, represents a small fraction of the trucks that haul trash and everything else into or through Virginia every day. Not only that, but police say they keep their eyes peeled for the big-rig jalopies--the ones that look like rolling safety violations.

All that said, the police did find 16 extremely unsafe trucks without having to look very long or hard. Some of them were cited at the Dahlgren weigh station in King George County, entering the state from Maryland and headed right into the heart of the Fredericksburg area.

It goes without saying that we don't want alien trash here at all, but we especially don't want it hauled into our area by unsafe trucks that are sharing roads with school buses and other vehicles carrying our loved ones.

Moreover, concerns about trash hauling shouldn't stop with the commonwealth's highways. When trash barges begin plying the state's rivers, can we count on Waste Management Inc. to keep a close eye on the safety of the vessels being used? Will they eventually become environmental threats or accidents waiting to happen?

If Virginians must put up indefinitely with load after load of imported garbage, they should at least be confident that safety is a top priority. Right now, that's not the case.

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Date published: 5/12/2004