Southampton Town Cracks Down On Illegal Dumping

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — Southamptown is cracking down on the illegal dumping of garbage and unwanted property at town facilities, officials said.

Town officials recently identified the people who dumped a mattress at Red Creek Park in Hampton Bays, officials said.

"Thanks to the efforts of the parks department and locals, information about a blue van observed dumping a mattress in a gated maintenance storage area at Red Creek Park was conveyed to the department of public safety and emergency management’s code enforcement division," people said.

Town Code Compliance and Emergency Management Administrator Ryan Murphy said that code enforcement issued a summons to the offender for littering.

Town Parks Director Kristen Doulos added: "We take great pride in our many beautiful parks

and beach facilities in the Town of Southampton and we work very hard to keep them well-maintained and preserved for ongoing use and enjoyment. Unfortunately, we run into
dumping and littering situations often, and we’re very happy code enforcement was able to
work with us to hold these offenders accountable."

Town Councilman Rick Martel, who is liaison to both the parks department and code
enforcement, said as the organizer for the annual Great East End Clean-Up, keeping the community cleaned and well-maintained is very important to him.

"We need to make sure that people understand that they cannot just dump litter and debris in our town without repercussions," he said.

The town will continue to work to reduce the number of illegal dumping incidents. Residents and visitors who observe littering are encouraged to be vigilant at town facilities and to report any observations to the parks department and/or code enforcement for follow-up.

"We’re hopeful that we can change the culture and perception that it is okay to leave trash behind or dump things by our continued enforcement activities in this area," Murphy said.