County sanitation workers discuss difficult job
* Unsung Heroes: Part 1 in a 5-part series
Every day, Graham County’s sanitation workers oversee the disposal of waste in the county, and ensure that dump sites are kept clean and safe.
The 9-man department oversees nine dump sites throughout the county and the safe transport of garbage daily to the landfill near Waynesville.
The department has been led for the past four years by Director Gavin Colvard and operates from a facility on Snowbird Road. He emphasized the daily work that he and his workers put into keeping the county clean, emphasizing that his men were not only responsible for taking the garbage from the dump sites, but also for keeping the sites clean and neat.
“We don’t get all nine every day, but pretty much every day,” Colvard said. “We take a load to the landfill every day – sometimes two of them, anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 pounds.”
Scott Hooper described the job he did, saying that it was more difficult than many people realized.
“If you notice, each site is swept, raked and cleaned; not just picked up,” Hooper said.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic had increased the amount of trash being thrown away, with more people staying at home.
Hooper also emphasized the danger of disease that sanitation workers sometimes found themselves in.
“We’re in it every day anyway, the COVID, the flu, hepatitis and everything else,” Hooper said. “It’s already there, but it increases (the risk of) what we do here; rain or shine.”
All of the workers said one of the most challenging parts of the job was people leaving illegal waste at the dumpsites, requiring harder work from sanitation crews.
“It’s clearly posted on every place that it’s supposed to be bagged garbage,” Colvard said. “Things like household furniture, couches, loveseats, recliners, microwaves and every kind of household good pretty much.
“Putting all of that stuff in these old trucks, that’s coming out of their tax money.”
He emphasized that disposing of such items was free if they were taken to the sanitation department facility.
“It’s disheartening when they go in there and sweep it and it looks really good, and you go back by there 30 minutes later, and it’s like you ain’t even been there,” Colvard said.
Hooper said that by and large, most people followed the rules, but that a select few made the job more difficult.
“They get inside of (the dumpsters), drag that stuff out, go into personal garbage bags of people’s private stuff that they throw away and take everything out,” Hooper said.
“People have the misconception that it’s the bears and it’s the coons. OK, some of it is, but the majority of it is the two-legged bears that are getting in there and digging it out.”
He also spoke to a sense of pride in helping to keep the county clean.
“I’m proud that there’s a group of us who have enough respect for our county to get out and keep a job, maintain a job and do a good job,” Hooper said.
Colvard expressed a similar sentiment and lauded his employees for the work they put in.
“I do get to work with a great group of fellas,” Colvard said. “They’re all good, hard workers. They deserve every dollar they make and I appreciate every one of them.”