By Michele RobertsonBill Garwood continues to battle the war on trash in Eddy County. On Saturday March 13th, Garwood and a crew of 16 other individuals and 3 tractors assembled to tackle a mess in an arroyo off of Hidalgo Road. The clean-up was shared on Facebook and the community was urged to come out and help. Winds were forecasted to be blustery and came on strong about 10:30 am, which was shortly after the crew had finished with some of the clearing. Volunteers pulled the trash out into an open area and tractors came through and piled it all up for a grappler to come pick up the following Monday. “Trash was pulled out of trees, bushes, and the arroyo, then stacked by tractors into a pile for the grappler truck to haul off,” Garwood shared. The arroyo trash ranged from fast food refuse, to shoes, mattresses, scrap metal, washers, and more. “The Arroyo clean-up was successful, and two other pits were also cleaned up. Piles of junk and trash were hauled off,” said Garwood, “this was no small trash pickup.” At this time,Garwood has no plans to organize another pickup, but encourages all citizens to do their part. Eddy County reported a total of 10,880 pounds picked up with the grappler. That’s almost 5 metric tons of other people’s illegally dumped trash, gathered by a group of volunteers. Illegal dumping and roadway trash remain a problem for Eddy County and southeast New Mexico. In their February 12, 2021 news release, the New Mexico Department of Transportation launched the public awareness campaign “Share the Love, Don’t Litter! Help Keep Southeast New Mexico Beautiful”, raising awareness about New Mexico’s roadway litter problem. “Litter-free highways is something we should all be working toward,” said Francisco Sanchez, District Two Maintenance Engineer. “The initial step is to ensure everyone recognizes the role they play in preserving the beauty of our state, specifically in Southeast New Mexico.”The NMDOT would also like to remind drivers to secure your loads. New Mexico statute 66-7-364 states, “No person shall throw, deposit, drop or permit to be dropped, any trash, or destructive, injurious material upon any highway,” the release noted. If citizens see illegal dumping in progress, they should call Eddy County Code Enforcement at 575-887-9511. If there is an area that needs attention, citizens can call the new Public Works Department grappler service at 575-885-4835, or submit a request for pick up on the Public Works page at www.EddyCounty.org
There are many locations within Eddy County for citizens to take their trash:●City of Artesia transfer station, 2507 Pecos Ave.●Corner of Fairgrounds/13thSt convenience station in Artesia, open 6a-6p●City of Carlsbad Solid Waste conveniencestation, 301 E. Plaza 6:30a-4:30p●Happy Valley convenience station, Happy Valley Road across from shooting range, open 6a-6p●Eddy County convenience station, 410 E. Derrick Rd, open 6a-6p●Loving transfer station, 45 Higby Hole Rd, Loving●Sandpoint Landfill, 164 Landfill Rd, CarlsbadIf you are interested in helping to Keep Carlsbad Beautiful, contact Mary Garwood at 575.302.7665 or email at msgarwood@cityofcarlsbadnm.comand find out how you can help. KCB will hand out gloves and bags all year round to folks wanting to get out and pick up litter. For groups needing to raise money for activities (church groups, sports teams, scouting programs, non-profit organizations, etc.) there are contractsavailable. City resources to call include: If in the City limits, please call and report to our 311 system. Call 311-from a Landline Phone OR (575) 887-1200-from a Cell Phone OR visit www.egovlink.com/carlsbad