Cleveland councilman orders illegal dumpsite in Corlett cleared after 19 News Troubleshooter raises alarm

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Activist Kimberly Brown has been waiting more than four months to see a real clean-up at an illegal dumpsite between two homes in Cleveland’s Corlett neighborhood.

“I really feel good about the situation. But it is a shame that 19 NEWS Troubleshooter had to get involved,” said Brown.

After Brown alerted 19 News to the situation, we spoke with Councilman Joe Jones who represents Ward 1 - the ward where the garbage pile was sitting on Benwood Avenue.

Jones promised he would get right on the job, and our 19 News camera saw a glimpse of that Thursday as crews removed some old tires left on the property.

However, it wasn’t until four days later that city construction workers took over — much to the surprise of Kellum Turner, who lives next door.

“I really just came out here to thank y’all for getting this done because I thought it was always going look like this,” said Turner. “I was scared for my daughter’s life.”

Councilman Jones told said last week that more than 60,000 tons of trash have been illegally dumped all across Cleveland.

“We’ve cleaned this site up three times before,” said Jones. “This is not the first time we’ve cleaned this site up.”

Residents hope it will be the last.

Still, the four days it took to properly address the lot on Benwood was four days too long for Brown.

“It took too long, and I am glad,” she said. “It’s done, but four days is too long.”

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