Over the past few years, the amount of trash and debris piling up along the Kansas City highway has only been increasing. Recently, KMBC 9 investigated the issue and captured a video that shows debris falling from the back of trailers. They have kept track of the matter for several weeks and followed these waste-loaded semi-trailers on three separate trips from three different waste transfer facilities. These waste transfer facilities include the Raptor transfer facility in Grandview and GFL and Mark II transfer facilities in Kansas City, Missouri.

On all these three trips, KMBC 9 watched how items fell from these waste trucks onto the Kansas City highways and recorded a video of the same. KMBC followed 9 trailers, of which 8 trailers had debris falling onto the highway. In a recent incident, a semitrailer heading out from Kansas City dripped around 103 items on the interstate. This occurred during the 25-minute drive to the John County landfill in Kansas.

The question is – how are these items falling onto the highway? Littering on the highways is a major issue, considering that taxpayers are paying for not only the collection of trash from their homes but also for picking up waste from the interstates. “The community needs to see that video. I think I would take that video to the powers that be and let them see,” said Marsha Ramsey, a Kansas City, Missouri resident. She has been actively bringing the issue of waste alongside interstates to the notice of city and state officials for over a year now.

KMBC 9 attempted to confront the facilities about this issue, but multiple phone calls and emails to representatives of Mark II and GFL went unanswered. In another attempt, KMBC 9 also attempted to connect via phone calls and emails to a private hauler that takes waste loads from the GFL waste transfer facility – these calls also were not returned.

KMBC managed to connect with a private hauler for Mark II to probe the reason behind why the spilling of debris has increased tremendously over the past few months. To this, KMBC received a response that the garbage coming from Mark II is electronically tarped. He did not comment any further and said that he would discuss the issue with the area manager.

Team KMBC 9, however, received a substantial response from Kit Starr from the Raptor Transfer facility. He was willing to go on record about the video documented by KBMC 9 and said, “We absolutely do not want that happening out of our trucks. I appreciate you bringing this to our attention and giving us the opportunity to take a look at the video and have this conversation. If that’s something that’s happening behind our trucks, we absolutely want to know about it, and we want to be a part of the solution and solve it.”

Starr is now deliberating with his team to find out the primary cause of waste spillage on the highway. He also showed KMBC how workers use long poles to check for debris that may get caught between the top of the truck and the tarp system. This could possibly result in garbage spillage. To ensure this does not happen, Starr said that Raptor has ordered new straps to secure the tarp. This would prevent waste from falling off from the trailers onto the roads.

Starrs response is heartening but does not come as a surprise, considering his constant contribution toward environmental responsibility. He has been an active volunteer in highway cleanups and has recently participated in a community cleanup event to pick up tires as well. “Everyone needs to do their part, drivers securing their loads, MoDOT removing any trash from the roadsides, and enforcement issuing citations for littering,” he said.

Excessive debris can also result in accidents on the highways. In case of such incidents, it is advisable to reach out to a Kansas City truck accident lawyer for legal advice and assistance.