NewsHillsborough County

Actions

Tampa pastor frustrated by mini-mountain of junk being left on church

Posted at 4:30 PM, Jun 14, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-14 18:33:12-04

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pastor Eric Peterman has enough to deal with running things at Hillsdale Baptist Church.

And then he found this.

“My first thought is frustration,” Peterman said.

A pile of tires tucked away on a secluded part of their property.

“Some on rims. Some not on rims," Peterman said. "Some PVC which may be a sprinkler system obviously you can see the plants here.”

Surveillance video shows what the Pastor thinks are the vehicles involved in the illegal dump.

First, a car scoping out a spot.

Then, a large truck bringing the unwanted junk.

“We all pay different fees regarding tires and things. All we really want to do is to be able to make sure that what belongs to other people is done and dealt with in a proper way,” Peterman said.

So now, the pastor and some other church members will have to spend their Saturday cleaning this mess up and hauling the tires away.

“As we try and be a light in this community, we also know we want to be a blessing to folks," Peterman said. "Not to be a dumping ground for people’s garbage.”

Hillsborough County continues to try and deal with illegal dumping. They held a Fight the Blight clean up a couple months ago and waived disposal fees.

If you recognize either of these vehicles seen on church property call the Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200.