Laziness, negligence spends AF money

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tiffany M. Deuel
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  People continue to search for ways to make life easier, processes faster and products cheaper. One area where people tend to cut corners when they shouldn't is a daily task that households world-wide know all too well: taking out the trash. However, the easy way can cost the 48th Fighter Wing more than $60,000 annually.

When it comes to taking out more than the waste from yesterday's supper, such as an old couch or mattress, some people are missing the mark. These items are being dumped along with smaller trash items rather than in their respective locations.

"We're seeing large volumes of domestic waste dumped in and around dumpsters on base," said Kieron Mullen, 48th Civil Engineer Squadron deputy operations flight chief. "T.V.s, sofas, mattresses, barbecues, tables, chairs and other normal household items appear when folks get ready to (move to a new base) rather than take it to the local waste site downtown where they can dispose of it properly."

To the person who is trying to select the easy route for trash dumping, it may seem that the crime is miniscule; however, due to recent changes Air Force-wide, it hurts the base wallet quite a bit.

"The contract for refuse disposal on this base is now weight based," said Mullen. "When people illegally dump in the base dumpsters, their household items are now adding to the weight of that contract, which is costing the base more to remove the items off of the base. Right now, because we don't have a contract to remove these items that are dumped outside the dumpsters, we have to pay an additional contractor to remove that (excess) waste. The current bill since January of this year is $26,000. It's not a (48th CES) bill, it's a wing bill, because it affects the entire wing."

For those who do not know where to take large items or do not want to pay to get rid of their unwanted items, there are multiple places near RAF Lakenheath to dispose of these items legally and free of charge.

"For household items, if it's recyclable, there are three recycling centers around base, the main one being next to the (48th CES) compound at building 1156," said Mullen. "However the primary source to remove household debris is to take it to the five-ways roundabout, to the local authority disposal center, where household waste can be disposed of free of charge."

Another possible problem is failing to hire the proper people to dispose of your items.
"You have a lot of folks around base, Liberty Village and the other base housing units using these people that advertise on base or (websites catering to the local community) saying that they will come and take your trash away for a small fee," said Angela Campbell, 48th CES service contracts quality assurance inspector. "A lot of time, in fact I would say most of the time, people are not checking to make sure that the person they are employing to dispose of their waste has a waste carrying license, and secondly they're not asking if they are disposing of it responsibly. There have been issues in the past where these items have been taken from someone's house and brought onto base to be dumped illegally beside the dumpsters."

Furthermore, if the trash is dumped illegally somewhere off base and can be linked back to the owner, the owner will be held accountable and charged by U.K. officials.
To help increase awareness about what items are acceptable in the red dumpsters around base, signs are being printed and expected to be on the dumpsters in the coming weeks.

"On the red dumpsters, the signs will state that it is for official use only," said Mullen. "It will also state that people cannot dump household debris in and around the dumpsters. It will have a map showing the location to the local waste site at the five-ways roundabout where domestic waste can be disposed of free of charge."

With the recent cuts to Air Force budgets, this is an area where money can be saved if all on-base personnel take their garbage to the proper locations.

"There is a cost (associated with illegal dumping), and the cost is something that has to be fronted by the wing. Right now, it is costing $5,000 a month to actually remove the trash and debris that people are illegally dumping at RAF Lakenheath," said Mullen. "It may not sound like a lot, but in a time of renewed fiscal austerity as the Air Force looks to reduce levels of service, people need to take into account that the annual cost of illegal dumping is in the area of $60,000 and it will continue to grow unless people are more accountable."

For more information on illegal dumping and fly tipping, refer to an earlier article at http://www.lakenheath.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123251827.