NATCHEZ — The Adams County Road Department recently started cleaning illegal dump sites around the county with help from a $35,000 state grant.

The grant is good through June 2019, but road manager Robbie Dollar said crews are most aggressive during the fall after grass cutting season concludes. Dollar said so far this year the county has cleaned 13 dump sites.

Road department executive assistant Meg Freeman said sites completed include East Wilderness Road, Sagefield Road and the Cranfield Road area.

Coming up, the county will be cleaning on Persimmon Road and Howard Loop.

Freeman said the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality grant allows the county to be reimbursed for expenses including man hours, machinery hours and tipping fees from taking the waste to landfills.

Board of supervisors president Mike Lazarus said it is a shame the county and state must expend resources cleaning up dump sites.

“I wish people would quit dumping,” Lazarus said. “We have two convenience stations, twice-a-week garbage pick up, and there is just no excuse.”

Lazarus said he asked residents who witness people littering to turn in license plate numbers by calling the sheriff’s office. The county has a $1,000 fine for littering.

“If we could write a few tickets at $1,000 a pop, we could get people’s attention that way,” he said.

Lazarus said the county also puts cameras on active illegal sites, and they have written a few tickets that way.

People who know of an illegal dump site are asked to call the road department at 601-304-7997.