CLEAN AND CLEAR

Kudos To Officials For Pot, Trash Removal

Area law enforcement officers have been busy during the past several days
in an effort to clean up the area of marijuana crops and trash.

In McDowell County, an estimated street value of marijuana plants of more
than $20 million were found, and eradicated. This find is expected to take
the bite out of this year's McDowell County marijuana crop and follows a
series of discoveries of small crops throughout the region.

Also, State Senate Majority Leader H. Truman Chafin took Sheriff Danny
Wills up in his King Airplane to look for junk and refuse that has been
discarded illegally in Mercer County. This is part of a major emphasis that
the sheriff's department has placed on clean up of illegal dumps and other
illegal sites where waste has been discarded.

So far, the West Virginia DEP pollution prevention and open dump program
has picked up 932 tires and 3,863 tons of steel in 2004.

Cleaning up the state shouldn't have to become a legal problem. It is the
job of all West Virginians to keep the state clean.

If you know where an illegal dump is located, notify authorities and let's
get our Four Seasons Country - and area where we should be proud of the
beauty - cleaned up.