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Don’t look now, but Fawn is keeping an eye on illegal dumping | TribLIVE.com
Valley News Dispatch

Don’t look now, but Fawn is keeping an eye on illegal dumping

Tom Yerace
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Fawn Township is about to go high-tech in trying to combat illegal dumping in the township.

The township will employ cameras at one of several locations throughout the community where dumping has occurred, according to supervisors Chairman David Montanari and Township Secretary Pam Ponsart.

Ponsart said the set of three cameras was made available to the township by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. The organizations are volunteer-based groups dedicated to improving the environment and quality of life throughout the state and the country.

“They will let you borrow these cameras for free,” Ponsart said. “It can take (photos and video) at any time. They have night vision, and they’re pretty sophisticated.

“They send the pictures to my computer, and they give you alerts on your phone so, hopefully, we’ll be able to catch some people dumping.”

Ponsart said all three cameras are deployed at one location at different angles to capture as complete a view of the illegal dumping activity as possible. They are activated by motion sensors.

The township, at the suggestion of Solicitor Steve Yakopec, will post warnings throughout the township that the township is using electronic surveillance to thwart illegal dumping.

Montanari said there are a number of places throughout the township where dumping has been going on for years.

But the township will not disclose at which site the cameras will be deployed to make would-be dumpers wary of doing the illegal activity in Fawn.

Asked if the situation has improved or gotten worse through the years, Ponsart said, “I think it’s getting worse. People don’t want to pay to dump, and that’s the bottom line.”

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