Calvin Wilson joins the Pulaski County Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District Team

NEWS RELEASE

For more information, contact
Desi Ledbetter, 501-840-3737;
desi@regionalrecycling.org

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Sept. 12, 2018) – Environmental Specialist Calvin Wilson has joined the Regional Recycling & Waste Reduction District in Pulaski County as its second Illegal Dumps Control Officer (IDCO). Desi Ledbetter, Chief Operating Officer of the District, is also licensed as an IDCO. Wilson, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will be responsible, along with Ledbetter, for administering countywide programs related to the investigation of public complaints regarding any physical location at which solid waste is being abandoned or illegally dumped.

The IDCO coordinates with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, local public works and sanitation personnel, and city code enforcement officers to investigate illegal dumps that pose a threat to the public health, or present an attractive nuisance, fire hazard, groundwater or air contamination, or pest infestation. The IDCO is responsible for collecting evidence of code, regulation and law violations that are appropriate for presentation to the local prosecuting attorney or court in the jurisdiction where the violation was committed. Wilson successfully completed IDCO training at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in Camden.

Illegal dump activity also includes illegal tire dumps, which pose a significant health hazard. The Regional Recycling District also manages a nine-county waste tire recycling program, that includes assisting other solid waste management districts in the nine-county area with identifying, investigating and working to correct illegal tire dumps. Wilson will be responsible for assisting other IDCOs in adjacent districts with tire dump eradication. For more information on illegal tire dumps, residents can go to tiresbegone.com.

Any Pulaski County citizen may confidentially report an illegal dump site to the District by calling 501.340.8787 or info@regionalrecycling.org. All citizens may also report illegal dumping to ADEQ by calling 501.682.0581 or https://www.adeq.state.ar.us/complaints/forms/sw_complaints.aspx.