Less than a month after WGME 13 uncovered lax disposal of confidential state records in a Dumpster on Water Street in Hallowell, the state has quite literally cleaned up its office trash disposal.

WGME, which had been assured by state officials that problems with improper disposal would be addressed aggressively, checked Dumpsters in the Augusta area earlier this week to see if anything had changed.

It had. And quite dramatically.

In April, WGME 13 opened an unlocked Dumpster beside the state’s Lottery Commission on Water Street in Hallowell and found enough discarded state records, including Social Security numbers, names and birth dates, to provide everything a would-be thief would need to steal dozens of identities.

A repeat visit to that same Dumpster this week revealed three new locks, but the locks were not secured properly and the contents of the Dumpster were accessible. However, there were no confidential documents in the bin, just old brochures.

A Dumpster at the state’s psychiatric hospital, which had confidential information thrown away in April, had nothing but food waste and shredded documents when checked again.

The same was true at the Dumpsters near the Workers Compensation office, and at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

“I think that’s incredibly healthy” to find documents properly disposed of, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said, because 10 years ago, people would have said, ‘what’s the big deal about Social Security numbers in the trash?'”

Dunlap told WGME that state employees no longer dispose of documents in Dumpsters, but shred documents at their desks. That shredded material is then picked up by a recycling contractor for disposal.

In the days after the initial WGME report, Gov. John Baldacci required all cabinet level officials to present, in writing, their plans and policies for securing sensitive records and destroying those records when necessary for departments under their authority.

Multiple memos have been sent to literally thousands of state employees reminding them of the need to secure people’s private information. One memo, sent last week to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, reminded employees that “with spring cleaning time here” to remember to be vigilant when throwing out any information or records that could contain sensitive personal information about people, according to WGME.

Dunlap assured WGME that his office will continue its diligence in protecting the private information of Maine citizens.

The first time WGME checked Dumpsters, with camera in tow in daylight, the crew was never stopped or questioned about their activities. This time, Capitol police stopped the journalists after receiving a report of suspicious activity at Dumpsters at various state office buildings. The officers confirmed for WGME they had also received internal memos requesting greater attention be paid to potential weakness for identity thieves, including monitoring the Dumpsters.

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