Dirt piles growing at state highway dumping site in Warren Township

Piles of dirt are mounding up off a bend of the highway in Warren Township. 

Ohio Department of Transportation crews have been using it as a dumping site for any “spoils" which is dirt from excavation projects like ditching.

It's a sight that is hard to miss when rounding the on and off ramps between Market Street and State Route 5.

“Once you start seeing piles … you don't know what's going on there,” Tony Bernard, Trumbull County Commissioner said. 

The state owns the property and is allowed to dump there. An ODOT spokesperson said the material is not hazardous and this is helping the area by evening out the intense slope that made it hard to mow. 

“It’s just dirt,” Justin Chesnic, an ODOT Public Information Officer said. “There’s nothing else in that, there's no concrete [or] asphalt.”

Crews were seen Wednesday flattening out the mountains to make things less noticeable. It’s something they will do every few months when engineers feel it's getting too high. 

Residents in the township have been asking for answers about the piles for months. Along with the unattractive sight some are concerned non state crews will use it as their own dumping site. Chesnic said if the issue comes up they will install a fence and no dumping signs. 

“Lets monitor and see what’s going on and make sure that only ODOT’s using it and that they're only using it at a limited issue,” Bernard suggested. 

Crews will stop dumping at the site in the winter but then will continue to use the space in the spring when ditching projects pick back up.