T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Bobbi McMillen, right, who serves as program director for Belmont County operations of the J.B. Green Team, gives an update Wednesday on operations and enforcement. WIth her is Deputy Matt Gehrig, who patrols for violations.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Law enforcement is on patrol, watching for trash and illegal dumping in Belmont County.

On Wednesday the Belmont County Board of Commissioners renewed the agreement between the Jefferson-Belmont Regional Solid Waste Authority –aka J.B. Green Team — and the sheriff’s office from Jan. 17-Dec. 31 for environmental policing services. J.B. Green Team will compensate the county in the amount of $86,487. Commissioner Jerry Echemann said this covers the full cost of enforcement and added that the organization also pays for a law enforcement vehicle.

Echemann said J.B. Green Team provides useful services.

“It’s been around for a long time. I happen to sit on that board, I enjoy it very much. We pay in both counties — Jefferson and Belmont — for a law enforcement officer that’s attached to the sheriff’s department to go around and take care of environmental issues, dumping and litter,” he said.

Bobbi McMillen, who has served as Belmont program director since October, introduced herself. With her was Deputy Matt Gehrig of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office, who is on regular patrol.

“He’s doing a great job out there on our roads every day. Anything from litter to lots of tires we find, to open burning. He has great connections with the (Ohio Environmental Protection Agency),” McMillen said. “He has their full support in cleaning up anything we need.”

Gehrig has been on the job for five years.

Echemann inquired about Gehrig’s daily duties, looking for instances of illegal dumping and turning over information to the prosecutor’s office when possible.

“It’s not real easy to get convictions on these things,” Echemann said. “It’s hard, but we do get them.”

Echemann said people often are caught on camera dumping garbage that does not belong at a J.B. Green Team recycling site.

Gehrig said more cameras are being installed at some newer sites.

McMillen said Gehrig’s jurisdiction is extensive.

“He’s responsible for anything in this entire county,” she said, adding that if he sees some rubbish along the roadway and is able to connect it back to a person, there will be consequences.

She said a full list of site locations and what may be disposed of at each site found at jbgreenteam.org or on the organization’s Facebook page.

Anyone with questions about what can be recycled or concerns about the possibility of illegal dumping can reach out to the JB Green Team office in Belmont County, 740-296-5376, or the Jefferson County office at 740-266-6899.

McMillen also said one of the recycling sites in Bridgeport was recently moved.

“We’ve moved to behind Wilson’s Furniture right off of Route 250,” she said.

They further elaborated after the meeting.

“It’s been a busy past week. We finished the holidays,” McMillen said. “It’s been a busy time, especially with paper from packaging at Christmastime, but also people starting the spring cleanups.”

Gehrig said dumping problems persist.

“It’s not really getting any better or any worse,” he said. “We’re educating about what the laws are.”

McMillen said they are also in support of an environmental court in Belmont County as one potential solution. She added that J.B. Green Team would welcome any support from the county in this venture.

“Law enforcement isn’t always the first way we’re looking to go, to punish somebody. Sometimes it’s just a lack of education,” she said. “They don’t know what they can and they can’t leave at our site. We can certainly go that direction, and there are other times when we need the enforcement of the law. As we have it right now here in Belmont County, it’s pretty insignificant in terms of any punishment when we do find a violation.”

McMillen also said that this year, J.B. Green Team is collaborating with Belmont County Soil and Water Conservation District to include tire removal with regular community cleanup days this year and next year.

According to Soil and Water, the dates are still being decided. Tire removal this year will occur in the southern eight of Belmont County’s 16 townships — Warren, Goshen, Smith, Mead, York, Washington, Wayne and Somerset. The focus will shift to the northern townships in 2025.

More details will be hammered out Thursday, when the regional township trustees meet at 6 p.m. In the Belmont County Garage on Roscoe Road in St. Clairsville.