BUFFALO, N.Y. — Neighbors in an East Buffalo neighborhood are frustrated that their efforts to clean up illegal dumping just don't seem to be working.
They've picked it up themselves and caught people in the act, but when you drive along William Gaiter Parkway and adjacent side streets even after two years of work, it's clearly still happening.
"This is a very challenging issue and a very disappointing issue," said Angie Leveritte, president of the Norfolk Avenue Block Club #1.
Furniture, paint cans, entire toilets, and construction material are getting dumped on the side of the road, and neighbors haven't been able to find a permanent solution.
"You spend so much time actually going out here, putting in the physical work to clean these places up, and then a day or two later there's trash on there again," said Ken Leveritte, Angie's husband.
An empty lot at the end of their street off East Delevan Avenue used to be rife with illegal dumping. It deadends just before William Gaiter Parkway, where illegal dumpers used to drive up and over a small embankment to flee Kevin said.
They had two guardrails installed by the City of Buffalo to block people from getting in and out as easily but the dumping has just moved elsewhere in the neighborhood.
"You know maybe one step up, two steps back but still I think if we continue to do the thing that we've been doing eventually it will start making a difference in the way that people act," Kevin said.
The Leverittes have gotten help from Masten District Council member Ulysses O. Wingo Sr., who called the issue frustrating. Streets such as Warwick Avenue and the other side of Norfolk Avenue north of the 33 have become the "new" dumping destinations for tires and larger items, although bags of trash along the side of the road are pretty common throughout the area.
Neighbors have suggested adding "No Dumping" signs, video cameras, and motion-activated lights to deter people.
"It's just kind of discouraging that you're trying to make your community better and sustainable, and people are coming from outside the community or from within the community are making it a blight," Angie Leveritte said.
The block club has attempted to use the City of Buffalo's illegal dumping program to report people caught in the act, but the Leveritte said while the program is well-intentioned, past experience has shown it's difficult to prove who did the dumping.
Whether from outside or inside their neighborhood the Leveritte's just want the dumping to stop.