One-Man "Chain Gang" Expresses Goals to More Effectively Clean Madison County Roads

Our Daily Show Interview! Talking Trash With Rusty Wheat

ROXANA/WOOD RIVER - Rusty Wheat wants the community to know that the trash along county roads is “worse than it ever was,” but he’s not stopping his efforts to clean up anytime soon.

In a recent interview on “Our Daily Show!” with CJ Nasello, Wheat explained that he picks up trash along nine miles of roads in Madison County. He is usually out once a week on Highway 143, cleaning up exits off Interstate 255 and county roads like Moreland and Wanda Roads. He encourages others, including elected officials, to join him in his work to keep the roads clear.

“I live in this trash along the road and I’m very passionate about it,” Wheat said. “I’m not a bad guy. I’m just passionate about the trash. That’s all.”

Wheat, who has dubbed himself a one-man “Chain Gang,” regularly calls on county officials to help him. He added that community members can adopt their own highways through Madison County’s Adopt-A-Highway program, which encourages people to help pick up litter and keep the roads in good shape.

Wheat explained that most of the trash he encounters comes out of trash trucks on their way to the landfill. He thanked State Senator Erica Harriss for meeting with him regularly to discuss ways to mitigate this.

Harriss recently pushed for Bill 4848 to pass the Senate, which requires trash trucks to cover the bed of the truck so trash can’t escape. But Wheat explained the bill does not specify what kind of netting must be used, so most of these trucks use subpar netting that does not keep the trash contained.

Additionally, this legislation is enforced by local police officers, who issue citations to truck drivers whose trash spills out of their trucks. Wheat thanked officers and police chiefs like Chief Brad Wells in Wood River for their work.

But he expressed his opinion that there should be a better way to handle this. He believes the county needs to hire local people to clean up the trash.

“I always tell everybody, it’s like a circus,” Wheat said. “You go to the circus because you want to see the elephants. The elephants are the main attraction, as the trash trucks are in Madison County. They bring tremendous revenue. But they pollute, just like the elephants do at the circus. So when you see it at the circus, they’ve always got somebody going back behind them cleaning up for the elephants. That is a very simple solution. So here we are in Madison County. They’re bringing the trash trucks in, so just bring some guys on board for going back behind the elephants and cleaning them up. It’s very simple.”

Wheat is specifically calling on County Board Chairman Chris Slusser to return his phone calls and “fix this trash issue.” He added that he isn’t interested in helping elected officials secure a photo op, but he would love to have them out to join him one day as he picks up the roads.

“If you want to help me and you just want to do it for a photo shoot or to get elected or put a sign up, don’t even bother because I’ll turn that against you,” Wheat said. “But if you’re sincere and you want to help with the trash, I’m a volunteer and I will help you in any way for the rest of your term.”

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