A typical first-offense penalty to a guilty dumper is $330 to cover criminal and civil penalties. Fines can range up to $10,000 and six months in county jail for a third conviction. If perpetrators take code enforcement’s advice and clean up their trash, that fact is noted to the judge, but the criminals aren’t off the hook for their illegal act.
There is a potential financial incentive associated with identifying a dumper. Successful prosecutions can net a tipper up to a $1,000 reward.[snip]
Disposers of green waste like tree limbs or other organic material are put on notice that code enforcement makes no distinction between yard waste, furniture, appliances, building material,
hazardous waste and whatever else gets tossed. “A dump site is still a dump site,” [code enforcement officer] Romage stated simply.
So what should desert dwellers do with their waste?
A tip for people who hire contractors for yard clean-up or renovation work that requires refuse removal: Agree to make payment after the contractor produces a receipt verifying the load was delivered to the dump that day.
Regarding used tires, the ideal situation is for responsible residents to accept the responsibility for the $5 per tire disposal fee (no rims.) Failing the ability (or desire) to pony up the fee, the county operates a drop-off location for used tires at the Copper Mountain Community Center from 8 a.m. to noon the first and second Saturday of each month or by appointment. The service is for residential, not business disposal. The site has taken in 20,000 tires so far this year.
Report illegal dumping to Code Enforcement.
FOR MORE INFO ON THIS ISSUE: See the Waste page on the MBCA Website.
