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Columbia City Hall (2021 file photo courtesy of city of Columbia)

Trash, shopping carts and other debris removed from Columbia homeless camp

Columbia City Hall (2021 file photo courtesy of city of Columbia)

Columbia city employees used dump trucks and other equipment to clean out a homeless camp near busy I-70 and Highway 63 on Monday. They were on-scene for more than eight hours.

The homeless camp was located near Home Depot and the Bob Evans restaurant.

City spokeswoman Sydney Olsen tells 939 the Eagle that the city used five dump trucks and five skid steers to clear debris and trash. ABC-17’s Ethan Heinz from our news partner KMIZ reports tents were  removed and that several shopping carts from Target were also found. Ethan also saw bicycles were removed from the camp.

The city acted after receiving complaints from residents and from the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), regarding potential pollution in the Hinkson creek.

The city closed one lane of Highway 63 to give the dump trucks and crews space. Olsen says one woman was arrested at the scene, after being given time to leave the camp. Olsen says the woman was arrested after she kept returning to the camp. Her name hasn’t been released.

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