Officials had a real mystery on their hands after hundreds of pounds of pasta were found dumped in Old Bridge, New Jersey last month.
Noodles ranged from elbow macaroni to spaghetti, and the load stretched 25 feet.
Nina Jochnowitz, a former city council candidate in the town, posted images on Facebook of the piles of pasta among vegetation in the park. She also thanked the public works department for cleaning up the estimated 500-pound mess.
"The township heard or read the comments and responded by doing a rapid cleanup the river basin and pasta dump," she wrote. "As my friend called it a 'Mission Impasteable!!!'"
Himanshu Shah, the business administrator of Old Bridge Township, told TODAY that officials only found out about the pasta through the Facebook posts, saying it "appeared to be 15 wheel barrel loads of illegal dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood."
So, who dumped it -- and why?
Neighbors apparently figured out that a man who was clearing his mother's home after her death discovered a stockpile of food, simply too much to put to the curb. So, the man dumped it in the woods -- uncooked, and the rain made it swell.
Jochnowitz and others say the incident illustrates the need for bulk garbage pickup. Without it, desperate people resort to such measures as dumping in the woods.
"No surprise when we see the dumping of construction and other garbage spewed in all of the neighborhoods," Jochnowitz said on Facebook.
The man who dumped the pasta is not expected to face any charges, according to Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry. He told WNBC "that the case is closed on the pasta peculiarity, saying no harm, no foul."
Related
Related
