Austin Code Compliance cracks down on illegal dumping
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They say one person’s trash is another’s treasure, but that doesn’t ring true for Austin Code Compliance.
According to a spokesperson with the department, illegal dumping costs the city about $250,000 each year.
Crews often find large items dumped in secluded locations across the city.
"Tires can be expensive to dispose of,” Matthew Christianson with Code Compliance said. “They run from 15 to 18 dollars."
Other commonly dumped stuff includes mattresses, furniture, roofing supplies.
Code Compliance has identified 39 spots where people illegally dump their garbage the most.
"When folks come out to a site like this and dump at nighttime and get away with it, if we have a camera set up we're probably going to find the license plate and trace it back to the owner,” Christianson said.
Owners face up to a 2,000 dollar fine.
"As Austin continues to grow, we are finding that it’s escalating a bit,” Christianson said. “You just have more people and more people that may not choose to go to a landfill and just find the convenient way of dropping it on the side of the road."
There are three places to legally dump your trash in Austin—the Travis County landfill, the Austin Community Landfill and the Eco Depot Convenience Center.