Sanitation

Glenda Gentner lives on the right street in the wrong neighborhood.She operates Gentner Bed and Breakfast from a rowhouse in the 2000 block of Park Ave., which has all the flair of a Manhattan penthouse.But beyond her courtyard garden of potted plants and goldfish ponds are several Reservoir Hill alleys that have become lined with minidumps. Heaped with up to 6 feet of trash -- the result of illegal dumping and overflow from residential back yards -- these minidumps have become feeding grounds for rats, and fodder in an escalating blame game.

KUDOS to Baltimore officials who have announced a long-overdue sanitation crackdown. Let's see how long it takes to clean up problem houses like the one above.Pub Date: 10/20/98

The owners of Keystone landfill -- 300 yards across the Pennsylvania border from Silver Run -- have been fraudulently transferring assets to avoid paying for cleanup of the Superfund site, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department.Federal authorities filed suit Aug. 25 in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg, Pa., in an effort to ensure that landfill owners Kenneth F. and Anna Noel and Keystone Sanitation Co. Inc., will retain assets to help pay for the landfill cleanup. The closed private landfill was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund cleanup list in 1987.

THE DIFFERENCE between some Baltimore neighborhoods only a few streets apart is glaring -- one block tidy and neat, another litter-strewn and grimy. The meticulously groomed Inner Harbor looks like another world compared to filthy alleys just a few miles away.Street and sanitation workers have been criticized repeatedly for allowing squalid conditions, but city residents must share the blame.People who carelessly throw litter on the ground, leave plastic bags of garbage out for vermin to rip apart or refuse to clean up after their own pets don't have much pride in their hometown or their neighborhood.

Garbage cans are prone to disappearSince the city sanitation police are going to fine residents of Baltimore City for placing trash for pick-up in plastic bags which are not in trash cans, I would hope they would use part of the money to reimburse those who will find it necessary to keep replacing trash cans because of damage or loss caused by the sanitation personnel.If metal cans are used, they are soon out-of-shape and unusable because of the banging against the garbage truck by the sanitation personnel while emptying them.

In the latest effort to wash away the city's grime and grit, Baltimore has created a new police force that will fine residents or take them to court for minor infractions such as littering and putting out trash too early.Wearing green and black, the sanitation police have taken to the streets. But the small army of 25 officers has been told to issue no warnings, only fines, to violators, starting Jan. 1."We have gone through the process of asking people and begging people not to trash the city, and that hasn't worked, so if you violate the law, we are going to cite you," said Elias Dorsey, the city's deputy health commissioner.

About noon yesterday, Capt. Charles White and Sgt. Derrick Purvey of the city's new sanitation police found respect.In the hunt for a trash violator, they pulled their cruiser over to the curb in the 2000 block of Wilkens Ave.Their car had the look of law enforcement: an unadorned dark blue. White and Purvey wore badges on their uniforms, which feature green pants with black trim.As they emerged from the car, the few people present jumped and gave the officers looks that seemed to say, "I didn't do anything."

In the latest effort to wash away the city's grime and grit, Baltimore has created a new police force that will fine residents or take them to court for minor infractions such as littering and putting out trash too early.Clad in green and black, the sanitation police already have taken to the streets. But the small army of 25 officers has been told to issue no warnings, only fines, to violators starting Jan. 1."We have gone through the process of asking people and begging people not to trash the city, and that hasn't worked, so if you violate the law, we are going to cite you," said Elias Dorsey, the city's deputy health commissioner.

"The greatest broom-pushers in all the nation/Are in the Department of Sanitation./They earn their awards without intrigue/From the Women's Civic League./Every collection crew is great/The best truck 3738./The chauffeur is Walter Whittemore/He speeds through the alleys with his foot to the floor."Hyman Aaron Pressman, June 19, 1969, presenting the city's Sanitation Department awards.Shakespearean, no?Or how about this one from Pressman, penned for a 1976 taxpayers meeting:"With unemployment and steep inflation/We just can't stand unfair taxation.

Hampstead council members voted in an emergency session Tuesday nightto award the town's three-year trash contract to Frederick Sanitation.The company, which bid $76,969 for the first year, had been the low bidder of five submitted. Town officials initially were reluctant to award the contract to the company because it never had collected municipal trash.But Hampstead Town Attorney Richard Murray said the council's April 11 decision to award the contract to Hughes Trash Removal, which had submitted a higher bid, would have been open to a legal challenge.

N.C. firm buys Harford Sanitation A North Carolina-based company has purchased Harford Sanitation Services Inc. "They're hoping to continue business as usual," said Harford Sanitation Vice President Cindy Hooper Hushon, who will remain with the company through the transition. Waste Industries will take on Harford Sanitation's 52,000 customers and its 145 employees as well as its assets, including trucks. The company is looking for larger sites in Harford to relocate the business, Hushon said.

Golf tournament likely to create road congestion 1 Baltimore County police warn that traffic could be heavier than usual tomorrow through Oct. 12 along the Shawan Road area in Hunt Valley because of the Constellation Energy Classic Golf tournament at the Hayfields Country Club. There will be no parking along Shawan Road during the tournament, which has a rain date of Oct. 13. Parking will be available at a farm near the event. The most likely times for congestion from the tournament are from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Ralph Cook Sr., a retired sanitation driver, died of cancer Wednesday at his Baltimore home. He was 77. He worked for 30 years as a sanitation driver for Baltimore, retiring in 1993. Born in Camden, S.C., he moved to Baltimore at the age of 12 and attended public schools. He held various jobs before beginning a career with the city. He and the former Mary Catherine Davis were married for 58 years and had 10 children. He was a member of First Brethren Baptist Church in Baltimore. In retirement, he performed odd jobs in his neighborhood, enjoyed traveling, doing crosswords and other puzzles, and helped neighbors with transportation, lawn work and keeping the community clean.

Pursuing a key goal of her fledging administration to make Baltimore cleaner, Mayor Sheila Dixon is set to announce today the re- organization of some key municipal sanitation functions and plans for a major multimedia anti-litter campaign. The mayor will also announce stepped-up efforts to clean city properties such as neighborhood bulk trash disposal stations and major roads leading into and out of the city, aides said yesterday. M. Celeste Amato, who is coming over from the Baltimore Development Corp.

ISSUE: A bill before the Annapolis city council would tighten the rules covering sanitation procedures at the city's more than 200 restaurants. The bill aims to make sure that all food service workers are properly trained in food preparation, storage and handling, and that certified personnel are on staff at each establishment. YOUR VIEW:How much need is there for tighter regulation, and what areas of restaurant sanitation most concern you? Tell us what you think at arundel.speakout@baltsun.

ISSUE: A bill before the Annapolis city council would tighten the rules covering sanitation procedures at the more than 200 restaurants in the city. The bill is intended to make sure that all food service workers are properly trained in food preparation, storage and handling, and that certified personnel are on staff at each establishment. YOUR VIEW: How much need is there for tighter regulation, and what areas of restaurant sanitation most concern you? Tell us what you think at arundel.

Bruce Hart, 68, who wrote lyrics for Sesame Street and Free to Be You and Me, died of lung cancer Tuesday at his home in New York City's Manhattan. Mr. Hart and his wife, Carole, were among the first writers on "Sesame Street" when it began in 1969 as a children's show that tried to be equally entertaining and educational. To shake up the creative process, its producers hired people new to children's television. Mr. Hart, who had written for Candid Camera and composed the lyrics to "One Way Ticket," a hit for Cass Elliott, was hired to write sketches and help with the theme song.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The people of the world will use nearly 3 trillion gallons of water today for drinking, sweeping away waste, recreation and such commercial applications as farming. More than a billion people are without access to safe water supplies, and more than 3 billion lack adequate sanitation services. These conditions often lead to severe water contamination in many parts of the globe and have been estimated to contribute to billions of illnesses and millions of deaths each year.

Baltimore residents may drop off as many as 10 vehicle tires, with or without rims, tomorrow at the Northwest Transfer Station, 5030 Reisterstown Road. In conjunction with Maryland Department of the Environment's Tire Amnesty Day, the city Department of Public Works encourages residents to clear homes of discarded tires. The state will bear the cost of disposing of the tires. The Public Works department also says residents can place up to four rimless tires with their regular trash twice weekly.

QUESTION OF THE MONTH September's question asked readers to send us photos or write us letters about the "trashy stories" in their neighborhood. Who's to blame for trash: the city or its citizens? This trash has been sitting here for two months. It's behind the 400 block of N. Milton Ave. off Jefferson Street in East Baltimore. The rats playing in this trash are big as cats. Children also play in this area. Repeated calls for a clean up have been unsuccessful. John Parrish Baltimore When I saw the picture of a heap of trash sitting behind a group of rowhouses, it made me wonder: Why would a neighborhood not band together to clean it up ("The City That Reeks," editorial, Aug. 30)