SOUTHAMPTON — In their proper place, hot tubs are an inviting luxury. Dumped on the side of the road, though, they’re an eyesore.
The discovery of what appeared to be an illegally dumped hot tub in the area of the Gunn and Riverdale Road intersection on Wednesday marked the third such incident in a year, according to Southampton officials.
However, a Chicopee mover said this particular beached tub was simply a mistake.
In a post on the town of Southampton’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon, Highway Superintendent Randall Kemp said the highway and police departments were aware of a dumped hot tub near the intersection of Gunn and Riverdale roads and said it was the third hot tub dumped in that general area within the past year.
“We will be out to pick up and dispose of it when it fits into our busy spring work schedule,” Kemp wrote. “It is disappointing that we must expend resources that could be put to better use elsewhere to clean up illegal dumping.”
Leonard Eaton, the owner of Premium Hot Tub Movers in Chicopee, said the hot tub found on Wednesday was being taken by one of his employees to a storage facility in Chicopee when it fell off a moving truck. He said it was not related to the other tubs Kemp said were found in the area.
Typically, Eaton said, two or more employees move the hot tubs, but in this instance, Eaton said the single employee had stopped to visit a family member with the hot tub strapped to a truck on the way to be stored.
Eaton said the “straps snapped and the hot tub slid off” onto the side of the road near the intersection. The employee was unable to move the tub alone, Eaton said. He said he found out about the dumped tub via a phone call from Southampton police.
He said he didn’t know anything about the other two hot tubs Kemp said were found in Southampton in the last year. Eaton also said this was the first time straps had broken while his company was moving.
“It was just one of those uncontrollable situations, was the way it was explained to me,” Eaton said.
Eaton said his company moves hot tubs from one location to another and provides hot tub disposal, where his company transports the tub to a local transfer station to be disposed of correctly. Reached Wednesday evening, Eaton said he was on his way to pick up the stranded tub.
Kemp said in the Facebook post that anyone with information on instances of illegal dumping should report them to the Southampton Police Department.
Southampton Police said the matter was still under investigation Wednesday evening.
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.