Cleanup of illegal dump in Point Breeze gets underway
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
The Councilman and a new property owner worked out a deal to clean the lots.
After years of filing complaints about an illegal garbage dump located adjacent to her property, Erika Rose spent the weekend watching garbage trucks haul away tons of debris from the vacant lot next door.
It was a little surreal — some of the trucks were owned by Donald Plummer, the same man who had illegally filled the land with garbage in the first place.
Because of the bizarre circumstances surrounding the site — the land has been owned by a series of individuals that, strangely, never filed formal complaints about the dumping or trespassing — the city could be held liable for forcibly removing Plummer's trash. So, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's office worked with developer Vitaliy Polyachenko, who recently purchased much of the trash-filled land, to hammer out a deal to clean the lots.
Polyachenko hired a clean-up crew and was apparently able to get Plummer to remove his trash and construction materials voluntarily, saving the city the time and risk of taking him to court.
A spokesmen for Johnson said the negative publicity helped them push for an ultimatum.
"The Councilman put out the word that if this lot was not cleaned by March 21st he would be holding a press conference and hold all parties accountable until a resolution was reached," said Thomas Mosher, Johnson's director of strategic communications, in an email. Cleanup costs were estimated at $150,000.
But the lingering question of "Why?" will probably remain unanswered. Since Rose first reported the illegal dumping to City Paper, rumors have swirled that Plummer had a financial arrangement with different individuals that owned the lots, including civic leader Claudia Sherrod (who has since sold her property) and Michael Mazzola, owner of nearby CAVA International Marble & Granite. Although both have denied dealing with Plummer, it's unclear why they never reported his dumping activities to the police or Licenses & Inspections.
For now, Rose is content just to see the land being cleaned up.
