dme court

Worth Township has filed a civil complaint seeking a $12,000 judgment against a resident alleging he accumulated junk and debris on his property that washed into Slippery Rock Creek during an April flood.

The complaint, filed July 24 against Douglas Meyerott, of New Castle Road, claims he violated the property maintenance ordinance by accumulating and burning junk, trash or debris, and permitting the accumulation to discharge into the creek.

A resident took photos of a pile of debris in the creek on April 9 or 10, and sent them to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, which forwarded them to the township, said township secretary Shari Kreutz.

“That organization sent it to me and we took action,” Kreutz said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection also sent the township an email regarding the situation, she said.

The township sent Meyerott a notice of the alleged ordinance violation that gave him 90 days to remove the debris and posted a notice of the alleged violation at his property later in April, but he has not removed the debris, she said.

The ordinance calls for a $500 fine for each day the alleged violation exists, she said.

A hearing on the complaint has been scheduled for Aug. 26 before District Judge Joseph Nash in Slippery Rock.

Meyerott declined to comment Thursday.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, works with the DEP and allows people to report illegal dump and graffiti sites. The organization also runs an Illegal Dump Free PA grant program, which loans surveillance kits that include three concealable cameras to local governments and law enforcement to capture footage of illegal dumping.