ROBESON COUNTY, NC (WBTW) – If you take a drive through Robeson County, you might notice something.
Kayron Maynor lives just outside of Lumberton city limits. For the last five years, her daily commute to and from work has consisted of seeing trash and debris in the county’s ditches and canals.
“70 plus miles of canals…you can see all the trash,” she said.
“It’s no way for the water now to run and it has just been sitting,” she further explained pointing to nearby ditch.
Maynor says with the amount of trash and debris clogging up ditches and canals that yards like Donnie Hunt’s remain backed up with water from the heavy rains a few weeks ago.
“With all of this trash we thought it was bad at Christmas. We haven’t seen anything yet,” she stated.
Hunt, who is a friend of Maynor, yard was completely flooded during the holidays.
“The water has been sitting in his yard now for two, two and half weeks. This is a conversation that you hear in the little local restaurants. I hear it at my workplace and people are talking about it but no one is really doing anything about,” said Maynor.
Back in July, Robeson County Commissioner Raymond Cummings started the Keep Robeson County Clean and Green initiative as a result to the problem.
Already with two clean-ups in the past couple of months up the group’s belt, Maynor is hoping for a permanent solution.
“I’ve been to different places trying to find information and the information is never consistent. Who is responsible for this…and I think? This just needs to stop,” she mentioned.
Maynor says she and some others look to start a petition on the trash issues.
She also encourages people to contact the state DOT and county leaders and support the Keep Robeson Clean and Green initiative.
