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Bill for Monongahela unwanted trash removal expected to reach $6,500

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MONONGAHELA – The bill is expected to be as high as $6,500 for the removal of a giant pile of televisions and tires that landed in a Monongahela park under a misdirected spring cleanup initiative sponsored by a state lawmaker.

Big’s Sanitation, which removed the pile from Chess Park last week, estimated the cost of cleaning up the mess at that price after state Rep. Bud Cook’s roadside cleanup turned into an open invitation for people to dump next to a veterans memorial in the park, Monongahela Councilman Ken Kulak said.

“It was what it was,” Cook, R-Daisytown, said as he apparently admitted responsibility for the problem when he approached council Wednesday at its monthly meeting.

The April 28 and 29 roadside cleanup was promoted as a way for residents to drop off household items at the park and other locations in the small city. However, Cook’s office didn’t register the cleanup with its organizers, Great American Cleanup of Pa., which doesn’t collect household items.

Big’s, of North Belle Vernon, used six large rolloff bins to haul away the pile, which also included paint.

Cook gave a definition of the word responsibility during his comments about the problem in the park.

Kulak said he interpreted the definition as Cook’s way of taking responsibility for what happened in the park, which features a gazebo that is a popular place for weddings.

It remained unclear Wednesday night how the Big’s bill would be paid.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, has said she would pay for half of the bill with her own money. She said Wednesday Cook also agreed to pay half of the bill, something Monongahela officials also confirmed that day.

Cook, when approached by a reporter after the meeting, denied agreeing to paying half of the bill.

“You never get it right,” Cook said. “I’m not saying anything to you.”

Meanwhile, Councilman Daryl Miller said the owner of Big’s told him Gov. Tom Wolf’s office instructed the company to send the bill to the governor’s office, that it would pay the entire bill.

Kulak said it’s not difficult for Monongahela residents to dispose of electronics, appliances or tires that have been cut up into smaller pieces. All they have to do is place them at the curb and Big’s will have someone haul them away, he said.

The city is planning to post instructions online for what Big’s will take and what it won’t haul away.

Regional editor Mike Jones contributed to this report.

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