A MYSTERY surrounding several hundred pounds of pasta dumped by a wooded stream last month has been solved.
Photos of the massive pile of cooked noodles offloaded in Old Bridge, New Jersey, about 30 miles south of New York City, quickly went viral as locals wondered who was behind the bizarre occurrence.
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It’s now been revealed that the noodles were dumped by a veteran who was cleaning out the home where he lived with his recently deceased mother.
“He’s in a weakened emotional state,” Nina Jochnowitz, who posted photos online of the pasta pile, told The U.S. Sun.
Jochnowitz said that the culprit was caught in the act by another resident’s surveillance cameras.
“I guess pasta was one of the things that he thought he could put out in the world and it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Jochnowitz said.
The veteran will not reveal himself to the media and won’t face illegal dumping charges, according to Jochnowitz.
The U.S. Sun’s messages to the Old Bridge Police Department about any possible charges were not immediately returned.
The township’s mayor, Owen Henry, estimated that between 300 and 500 pounds of spaghetti, ziti, and macaroni were left by the stream near Veterans Park.
The pile was about 25feet long and the width of a wheelbarrow, which is what the veteran used to dump the pasta, Jochnowitz said.
It took about two hours for two members of the township’s department of public works to clean up the site, the mayor said.
The situation quickly turned into an international spectacle as users on social media platforms like Reddit came up with hundreds of pasta-themed puns.
“I thought it would be over last Friday,” the mayor said.
“I can’t believe we’re still talking about it.”
Jochnowitz, a passionate environmentalist who once ran for a seat on the Old Bridge’s township council, was initially concerned the pasta could pose an ecological threat.
The stream where it was dumped is a key source of drinking water for the township, she said.
Jochnowitz thought the pasta could lead to increased levels of bacteria in the stream.
But the mayor said that the township’s engineer determined the noodles did not pose an environmental threat.
The situation was never reported to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, a spokesperson for the agency told The U.S. Sun.
Jochnowitz said that the pasta pile is emblematic of a larger issue with illegal dumping in Old Bridge, where some areas are littered with discarded items like tires and furniture.
She believes that the situation is evidence that the township should implement a door-to-door bulk trash pickup service.
Surrounding municipalities already have this service, which would cost each household in Old Bridge an extra $20 in taxes annually, Jochnowitz said.
The mayor has long opposed proposals like Jochnowitz’s.
If the veteran had left the pasta outside his home, it would have been taken by Old Bridge’s existing trash service, according to Henry.
“The township has taken a very aggressive stance to find these people who dump (illegally),” the mayor said.
He added that Old Bridge’s town dump already accepts most trash regardless of size, so long as residents can get it there.
They can also arrange appointments to have large appliances like stoves and fridges picked up at the curb through the township’s website.
The mayor said that his opposition to a bulk pickup service is also rooted in his affinity for recycling and reducing the amount of waste in landfills.
“If it was good pasta, it should have been brought to the food bank,” he said.
“There was no reason to dump it in the woods.”
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