500 Pounds Of Pasta Dumped In New Jersey, Cops Hunt For Source
Local authorities are investigating a mysterious case. They are trying to figure out why and how 500 pounds of cooked pasta was dumped near a creek in a residential section of Old Bridge, N.J. last week, per NJ.com. Local officials learned of the piles of pasta on April 28. Photos of the cooked pasta were posted on Facebook, Old Bridge’s business administrator Himanshu Shah told the outlet. The town’s Department of Public Works cleaned up the pasta.
“DPW visited the site and did in fact find what appeared to be 15 wheel barrel loads of illegally dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood,” Shah said in a statement.
The mounds of pasta were found in the area of Hilliard Road and Mimi Road, adjacent to Iresick Brook, Shah said. The pasta consisted of a mix of spaghetti and macaroni. By the time the photos were taken the pasta looked to be cooked. It is unclear if it was cooked when it was dumped or if it went into a cooked state to due being exposed to moisture.
“We would estimate several hundred pounds of uncooked pasta that was removed from the packaging and then dumped along the creek. It looks like it was only there for a short time but moisture did start to soften some of the pasta,” Shah said.
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Photos of the pasta were posted on Facebook by Nina Jochnowitz. She previously ran for council in the town’s sixth ward. Jochnowitz said she took the photos of the pasta on April 26. She claims that the town was alerted of the illegal dumping but did not respond. The town business administrator denied there was a delay in cleaning up the pasta.
“The township did not receive any calls or reports from any residents except the Facebook post,” Shah said. After the police report was filed, Shah said that two public works employees arrived to clean the pasta up from the area. The employees cleaned the pasta off of the ground and later disposed of it. They estimated that it was about 500 pounds of pasta dumped. Authorities have yet to figure out who is responsible for the illegal dump of the pasta.
