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Tough on trash
We’re glad to see the county’s Board of Supervisors has approved a supplement to the Sheriffs Department budget to allow a deputy to patrol the dumpster sites once the new landfill is in operation.
Perhaps the deterrent effect of knowing a sheriffs cruiser could pop into sight at any time will be enough to discourage those in the habit of violating the county’s dumping regulations. If not, we hope that a few tickets for illegal dumping will make the point.
On the subject of fines, we again urge that the deputies be instructed to levy stiff fines on violators. The maximum penalty for illegal dumping in Virginia is a $1,000 fine and/or 12 months in jail.
While perhaps the maximum is not appropriate, especially for first-time offenders, we hope that the supervisors will support fines of a sufficient amount to make the violators think twice before they violate the law again. A $10 or $25 fine will not do that.
The crackdown is overdue.
Now, with the landfill operation run by the county, the already serious potential problems of safety and disease at the dumpster sites is compounded by the question of the county’s liability for accidents or dangerous substances dumped illegally. There’s precious little room for mistakes , where liability is concerned. 6
We would prefer to see the county err on the side of caution, particularly as the operation first gets underway, than to have cause to wish — too late — that stricter controls had been put into place.
The board’s approval on Tuesday of a supplement to allow the Sheriff s Department to patrol the sites is a good sign. We hope that the rhetoric will be followed through with strict enforcement and stiff penalties for violators.
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