Several Seminole County business owners are on the lookout for someone they say dumped a whole lot of junk into a retention pond near their offices.
- Someone dumped construction debris near Longwood retention pond
- Cameras show truck and trailer, but not tag number
Among the junk dumped -- old cabinets, tile, a kitchen sink. It all appears to be leftovers from a kitchen renovation.
Jim Smalley, a Longwood machinist, returned to his shop after Hurricane Matthew cleanup to find the pile of construction debris.
“What bothered me the most is I spent all weekend at the coast helping to pick up after the hurricane," Smalley said. "And I drove into my shop on Monday morning and I’ve got a pile of trash in the retention pond in my parking lot.”
Smalley says surveillance cameras from neighboring businesses caught it all on camera. You can see the truck and trailer pull into the parking lot, and then later leave after dumping all the junk into the retention pond.
“This is a brand new trailer, somebody is going to be able to identify him, it’s just a matter of time," Smalley said. "He’s going to be caught.”
Smalley filed a report with Longwood Police, but police say they can’t do a lot unless the truck’s tag number can be identified.
So Smalley has made it his mission to find the person responsible. He believes since it happened close to midnight on a Sunday night, whoever did this lives nearby.
Smalley says the junk has also disturbed sandhill cranes and possibly other wildlife that live in the pond.
“I’ve watched a baby be born out there and be raised on that pond, and they were there the day after that got dropped and I haven’t seen them since,” Smalley said.
But Smalley isn’t cleaning it up himself.
“We want the people who made the mess to come clean it up," Smalley said. "It’s not fair for hardworking people to have to come out here and clean up somebody else’s mess.”