Trash from Americana Drive cleanup not collected
Nearly 60 volunteers spent hours on Veterans Day last Tuesday picking up trash along Americana Road in Annandale.
Five days later, piles of bright orange trash bags are still there. Some of the bags have opened, with trash spilling out.
Amy Gould, one of the organizers of the periodic cleanups along with Philip Latasa of the Friends of Accotink Creek, says VDOT usually picks up the trash bags the day after the event. She plans to follow up on Monday with VDOT and the Braddock District supervisor’s office.
The Nov. 11 cleanup was held in cooperation with the Fairfax County Restoration Project, with support from Team Rubicon, the Wounded Warrior Project, and The Vistas apartments.
Volunteers from those and other organizations, along with local residents, students, and Braddock District staff, collected 208 bags of trash plus 22 tires, two toilets, two sinks, a backyard slide, two TVs, three mattresses, a three-wheeled motorcycle, lots of construction debris, and much more. The organizers estimate the haul at 2.3 tons.
As the volunteers were finishing up, a neighbor in a pickup truck drove by to retrieve salvageable metal items for sale as scrap, Latasa said. “It was good to know some of what we collected would be put to a better use than being discarded as rubbish.”
“Depressing levels of illegal dumping continue to plague Americana Drive,” he said. “Our appeals to conscience and the example set by our cleanups have had little effect.”
Latasa hopes a forthcoming study commissioned by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors “will produce imaginative solutions.”
The next Americana Drive cleanup will be on Presidents Day, Feb. 16, 2026.
Its wonderful to see such dedicated volunteers tackling the depressing levels of illegal dumping on Americana Drive! Two and a half tons of rubbish – impressive haul! And kudos to the neighbor in the pickup truck for finding imaginative solutions for the scrap metal. Perhaps the upcoming study can finally devise a truly novel approach, maybe something involving giant, trash-eating robots? Or maybe just fining the dumpers enough to cover the cleanup costs? Either way, see you on Feb. 16!
Our apologies to the neighbors for the delay in getting this rubbish hauled away. VDOT was notified weeks ago in advance that the Clean UP would occur on Veterans Day, so it is mystifying that collection was not scheduled immediately. We have reminded VDOT that the neighbors are depending on them.
Why does this area always seem to be the most popular spot for illegal dumping of trash? Solve this issue and make enforcement a priority. Possibility something our Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez could work on with the Fairfax police department. Who am I kidding, Jimenez is more likely to make it OK to dump.
Americana Drive is in Braddock.
Thank you, I did not know that it was Braddock district. Regardless, solving the reason why, and getting the Supervisor (currently vacant) and FCPD involved with enforcement is key to solving this problem. Also, my concern about the Mason Supervisor remain – I’m starting (a very little bit) to miss Penny Gross as he makes her look great.
This problem roots from the county/city not enforcing parking. The dumping has been a problem for years. People fix their cars there all the time. They illegally park and nothing happens. Gave a few tickets but clearly that’s not enough. They need to start towing. They block the roads and fire hydrants and nothing happens. If they enforced parking, the dumping would decrease drastically. So many things would change in the area if that one thing was enforced. I’m glad people volunteer to clean but since people know that happens, others abuse it and dump on purpose.
The Sheriff’s Office Community Labor Force used to conduct regular clean-ups along this road, so it wasn’t such a terrible mess. Staffing levels in that department need to be addressed, and the program needs to be reactivated. They did so much for the county that went unnoticed until issues like this pop up.
They need to address all the illegal parking on that street. Expired tags, inspections, cars up on the curb, etc.
Even when you email, all they say is that the area is the most ticketed and that’s it.
They need real enforcement. The problem goes up to Patriot Drive as well. Illegal parking in front and near fire hydrants, side walk ramps, bus stops and bike lanes. Specially where it says no parking. Cars park on the edge of the curbs too, blocking exits/entrances. Hard for people to cross the street since visibility is poor from the cars blocking. So glad we haven’t had any accidents.
That’s a problem on Rio Drive in Falls Church, too. There are two vans that were ticketed months ago but are still sitting there. One of them has a very flat tire and is clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. UDY-3518 is the tag #.
The apartments in that area should have a regular scheduled pick up day for these items. The rental apartment managers need to insist on this.. Other rental apartments in the area do do so. Our condos on Americana Drive do on a specific day and they provide a storage area between pick ups. It is well worth the cost to have no large items around littering our condo and the street.. Our condo fees are good . They cover everything except the electricity to individual units. A real bargain.
I have been told that VDOT picked this up today. We are all so sorry for the delay. I hope this is the case and we can look forward to another successful event in February. Thank you to all the Volunteers who worked so hard and did such a terrific job.
A special thanks to the Braddock District for helping us get this resolved. Not only did they volunteer and give their time on a freezing cold day but they helped us resolve the pick up issues with VDOT. Many thanks!!
Love those who volunteer. Hope all goes well in February. No snow hopefully. News 4 extended weather prediction says we might get 13 to 20 inches of snow this winter.
The reason why so much trash is dumped there is because most of the housing is low-income people in those apartments, who are also blue collar workers. They come and dump this refuse and construction debris in their own neighborhood when they come home from work. I see it weekly. Literally men in white vans dumping out refuse from their worksite right next to the beltway sound wall and walk back to their apartments. SAD!
Low income AND blue collar. The horror!
On one hand, plainly there is inadequate parking and trash collection for that neighborhood. On the other, all those cars force drivers to slow down a bit. Americana Drive is a raceway as well as a parking and garbage nightmare. The area needs attention, not classist criticism.
i guess you missed the part where the poster said they illegally dump stuff from their vans. they are a huge part of the problem.
Yes. We need county to execute on the basics like: catch and fine illegal dumpers, write parking tickets, tow illegally parked vehicles, jail owners of unregistered vehicles. Enforce housing codes!! … all the murals and art projects and bike lanes to nowhere aren’t worth the time if we’re walking through trash and dodging abandoned vehicles. This has gone on for so long that it really qualifies as criminal negligence on the part of BoS and VDOT and police.
The dumpers don’t want to pay the fee at the county’s dump sites. The FFC police don’t have the time/money/person power to enforce a non felony related issue. Also at issue is the number of Maryland vehicles that populate the County. They don’t comply with the Commonwealth’s 30 day to register your vehicle to avoid FFC personal property taxes and registration fees. I’ve been advocating for a separate set of enforcement officers whose primary focus is on issues of littering, parking, and registrations. Vivian Watts needs to the General Assembly to either (1) require the management company to sent notice to DMV, within 14days, of a new rental or give the police (or a new separate enforcement department) the authority to ticket on private property.