NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez has been awarded a $25,000 grant to clean four sites where trash has been illegally dumped.

Natchez City Engineer David Gardner said the grant will cover the trash removal and disposal and any excavation and restoration to the sites. The grant is funded by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and requires no match from the city.

The grant money will be divided among the sites according to need, and Gardner said $8,000 will be spent on West Stiers Lane, $7,000 on Watkins Street, $6,000 on Marblestone Alley and $4,000 on Old Horseshoe Lane.

The city received and spent $65,000 in grant funds over the course of April 2010 to August 2011 to clean up illegal dumpsites. The funds were spent on Marblestone Alley, South Bluebird Street, Arlington Avenue, Linden Drive, Old Wilson Road, East Oak Street, Scott Lane and twice on West Stiers Lane.

Gardner said the bid process for the latest round of clean-ups will start next week. He said once contractor inspects the sites, an estimated timeframe can be given for the project.

The sites will be cleaned up one at a time, Gardner said, so the funds can be properly managed. Once the sites are cleaned up, Gardner said he hopes people will obey the law and properly dispose of their trash.

“Unfortunately, people want to dump their trash where it’s most convenient,” he said. “When one person starts to dump somewhere, then another one does and another, and soon it becomes a regular dumpsite.”

Gardner said the sites are difficult to protect, but the city will put up signs at the sites to deter illegal dumping and police can write citations that could result in fines or jail time.

“Many new sites pop up without neighborhood residents reporting the problem when it starts or during the dumping,” he said. “(It is) hard to monitor. Community involvement is a must.”