Home Exchange Is Too Popular, Dumpniks eager to scavenge mob the place; drop-off area is shut down

Too much of a good thing - namely, treasures found amid the trash at the "home exchange" recycling area at the East Hampton Town dump - is drawing hordes who stay all day, crowding the area and creating a safety hazard, according to town officials.

The home exchange area at the Springs-Fireplace Road recycling center was abruptly shut down on Friday after a resident who had dropped something off stopped by the office, shaken after a near-miss when a child darted behind his car.

"You go over there at any time of the day, and there are families sitting there. It was never intended for that," Neal Sheehan, the town's environmental facilities manager, said yesterday.

Although signs declare a 15-minute limit on stays, a number of people linger much longer, waiting for new items to arrive. Their cars take up the dozen or so parking spaces, causing traffic to back up when someone wants to unload something.

"It's gotten steadily worse," Mr. Sheehan said. "There is no easy solution, because obviously it's become a culture." Although those using the area, to dump or to collect, are supposed to have dump permits, some people, he said, walk in off the street, or get dropped off at the site and are picked up hours later.

Members of the East Hampton Home Exchange Recycling Committee, an ad hoc advocacy group of about 20 residents that was formed several years ago when town officials seemed poised to shut the exchange area down, want to see it reopened. They acknowledge, however, that there are some problems.

"Traffic has been a problem . . . children unattended, people sneaking in there. We are aware of this," said Nancy McCarthy, a committee member.

"The biggest concern - it's almost like a day care," said Jim Campbell, another committee member. "They're talking with their friends, and their children are playing with the new toys they've discovered there."

"We're going to have to change it a bit; it's not what it was meant to be," Supervisor Bill McGintee said Tuesday. Besides staying too long, he said, people looking for treasures are "mobbing people" dropping things off, which "makes people uncomfortable."

"There has to be a way of making sure that people follow the rules," Ms. McCarthy said, adding that committee members have "tried, sort of informally, to police the area ourselves." But "some people pay attention, some don't." Because many of the visitors to the area are Spanish-speakers, she continued, there can also be a language barrier.

Ms. McCarthy said that the committee's efforts several months ago to arrange a bilingual meeting at the recycling site were frustrated by landfill employees who removed posters advertising it. Mr. Sheehan said his employees had not been instructed to intervene.

Enforcing the posted rules is difficult, according to Mr. Sheehan, because they are not part of the town code. He recommended that the town board include them. If it were to do so, an ordinance enforcement officer could give those who ignore the limits a summons. Mr. McGintee suggested marking tires, as is done in the village to enforce parking regulations.

Mr. Sheehan said a shortage of manpower, particularly on weekends, prevents him from posting a landfill employee at the exchange area. In any case, he added, an employee would not have the authority of a uniformed officer with a badge.

"We just have to figure out a way to make it safe. I don't want to be the guy who says, 'Close it.' "

The home exchange area was squeezed for space when it was moved to the front of the recycling area, near Springs-Fireplace Road, after the entire site was reconfigured several years ago as part of a project to close the landfill. One solution, Mr. Sheehan said, could be to assign it a larger space toward the back of the site, where it could be more closely monitored.

Besides the crowds, he noted, another problem is that, in addition to reusable stuff, people often leave garbage that no one else would take and toxic refuse, such as pesticides or paint cans.

The remains of each day get scooped up and disposed of by dump employees at 4 p.m.

Allowing people to take home "reusable things . . . helps the town in terms of the number of items that have to be hauled away, so it's saving the town," Mr. Campbell said yesterday. "It's teaching about history, because sometimes there are old things. There are parts that people need. And in spite of this being a wealthy community, there are a lot of people who can use these things in their daily living, in this disposable society."

"There are lots of people in this town who have things in their house from the dump," Mr. Campbell said - from a plate to more significant items like furniture.

The committee hopes to meet with Mr. Sheehan and the town board to find a solution to the problems. Town board members are expected to address the issue at a work session on Tuesday.