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Last week. Supervisor Hubert Gilkev proposed that the county levy fines of “$200 or $200” on people convicted of illegal dumping as a method of combatting the misuse of the county’s dumpsters.
Mr. Gilkey was speaking of the problem the Board of Supervisors envisions once the county’s landfill begins ope ration.
The county is already facing a mammoth (and disgusting) problem with its dumpster sites (see photo below). As John McCarthy pointed out several weeks ago, the dumpster sites are the “messiest in memory,” and the county’s taxpayers are picking up the clean-up bill.
The situation is aggravated by the necessity to separate appliances from household refuse.
One solution, as practiced in Fauquier County, is to leave several dumpster sites open but limit dumping to certain hours when there is a person on-site to supervise the operation.
This would require fencing the area and paying someone to make sure that no hazardous materials are placed in the dumpsters. Limited hours might be inconvenient for some residents, but it would solve the county’s liability problem from midnight dumpers, while making it more convenient for residents to dispose of their trash.
In opposition to that plan, critics point out that more people might be tempted to just toss their garbage on the roadsides, or at the barred gates of closed dumpster sites.
There’s a solution to that problem too.
Illegal dumping, whether on roadsides, public or private property, is a Class I misdemeanor in Virginia, punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or 12 months in jail, or both.
If the Board of Supervisors communicates its desire for stiff penalties for litter violators, and the county’s Commonwealth’s Attorney adds his voice when the cases come to court, perhaps stiff fines would be levied on the offenders.
If an agreement is reached with the CDI program, maybe the sentence could include community service hours— to be spent cleaning up the dumpster sites.
We’re betting that it wouldn’t take too many $500 fines and sentences of community service to convince stubborn litterers that the county is serious about stopping illegal dumping.
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