Big Homeless Enclave In Camden, NJ Is Evacuated, Then Leveled
By Mike DeNardo
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- The final homeless person living in one of Camden's most persistent tent cities was moved out this morning, as heavy cleanup equipment moved in.
An excavator moved old tires, filthy clothing, and tree stumps from what for years has been a homeless encampment on Linden Street, off Admiral Wilson Boulevard. It's the seventh and final tent city removed in recent weeks from New Jersey Department of Transportation land.
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Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen says 45 homeless people have been moved to shelters and to addiction treatment.
"The conditions aren't humane out here," he tells KYW Newsradio, "and so we want to make sure that they have a bathroom when they need it. A shower when they need it. And a bed to sleep on."
Keashen says hazmat crews took a five-gallon bucket filled with syringes from the site.
He says the state is expected to cut down the tree cover and put up fencing, to discourage the homeless from moving back in.