San Joaquin County steps up efforts to tackle illegal dumping

May 26—STOCKTON — Seven months ago, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors implemented an ordinance holding residents accountable for illegal dumping in public areas, or along public right-of-ways.

The ordinance, which went into effect Oct. 13, allows the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office to issue citations to those caught leaving trash and debris along roads and waterways in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Along with approving the ordinance, supervisors directed county staff to develop a campaign using a public education, eradication and enforcement — or Three Es — approach.

On Tuesday, county staff presented the "See It, Report It, Stop It" campaign to supervisors, which will educate residents on how to dispose of unwanted items responsibly and report littering; eradicate illegal dumping by promoting community cleanup activities and events; and enforcement through video surveillance, investigations, citations and other law enforcement measures.

"A record-setting amount of garbage, graffiti and illegal dumping is polluting our region," board chair Robert Rickman said in a media statement following Tuesday's meeting.

"It accounts for 2,600 tons of trash in San Joaquin County communities each year, and costs taxpayers nearly $1.3 million annually to clean up littered areas," he added. "If not cleaned up and prevented, it could threaten our health, safety, environment and most important, our citizens, for generations to come."

Illegal dumping is the disposal of any trash in dumpsters or containers not owned by the person leaving the debris, as is abandoning garbage along roadways, waterways, fields, wooded areas, parks, or other public locations.

Pouring chemicals, pesticides, used automotive fluids, and other pollutants into storm drains, waterways, and on the ground is also illegal.

It is also unlawful to burn or bury trash, or drop it at any location other than a legal acceptance facility.

Since implementation of the ordinance, an task force created various materials to mitigate the violation, including printing flyers, posters and brochures in both English and Spanish, which have been posted at community centers and handed out during county events and community cleanups, staff said.

The materials include ways to report illegal dumping, such as calling 209-468-3074, visiting www.sjrecycle.org, or using the MySanJoaquin app on phones.

While anyone can call or visit the website to report any dumping, staff said residents can only use the MySanJoaquin app in unincorporated areas of the county.

However, staff added it would like to work with all seven incorporated cities in the coming months to create one app that anyone can use anywhere to report such activity.

The materials also encourage residents to take any unwanted items or debris to the three county landfills located in Linden, Manteca and Lodi, accompanied by fees and what each facility will and will not accept.

Advertisements have also been aired on four different radio stations throughout the county, as well as on various county social media pages. They can also be seen on buses and billboards throughout the county, staff said.

Lt. Nick Taiarol said the ordiancne deals with finding and citing violators through their vehicle registration, so the Sheriff's Office has begun using various cameras and technologies in several designated "hot spots" throughout the county to capture license plates on vehicles being used for dumping.

The game plan, Taiarol said, was to use game cameras used for hunting and trail security to identify vehicles and then locate the owners and cite them.

However, it was revealed that during dusk and the evening hours, headlights on vehicles would obstruct license plates, so deputies were unable to properly track down violators.

As a result, Taiarol said the department has also begun using Flock cameras, which are specifically designed to help law enforcement agencies capture vehicles and license plate numbers.

Since the ordinance's implementation, Taiarol said one penal code violation has been issued, and deputies are currently working on tracking down another violation.

Eight more are being investigated to determine if they fall within the ordinance guidelines, he said.

David Tolliver, deputy director of operations, said six homeless encampments throughout the county have been cleaned and removed as part of eradication efforts, and that at this time, none of the sites have converted back to previous conditions.

The county increased its Dumpster Days events from 12 to 17, and it has partnered with the Greater Valley Conservation Corps to collect waste directly from residents near the events to assist the elderly, disabled and veterans who are unable to take their debris to sites, he said.

Tolliver added that the Sheriff's Office also undertook a cleanup effort at an abandoned mobile home park that was a hot spot for dumping.

This year, Tolliver said the county expects to remove 2,800 tons of trash from public view, an increase from the 2,000 tons collected five years ago.

In addition, the county has 1,236 work orders to remove debris from public-right-of-ways each quarter of the year, he said. Staff said the consequences for illegal dumping are significant, as the cost to clean up the trash has risen to nearly $1.3 million annually, and violators may be subject to a fine of as much as $10,000 and possible criminal prosecution.

The illegal dumping ordinance was initiated by Supervisor Miguel Villapudua, who represents most of the City of Stockton.

His office received an increasing amount of complaints of litter, trash, weeds, fire hazards, abandoned boats, homeless encampments, and illegal dumping activities in his district over the last few years.

Villapudua established a county and city task force in 2020 to investigate the illegal dumping issue and provide recommendations to supervisors, which eventually were included in the current ordinance.

"The unlawful disposal of garbage needs to stop," Rickman said. "It's not only harmful to our neighborhoods, businesses, and natural environment, it also places a hardship on available county resources and taxpayers who are burdened with paying the cost of cleanup. We need to work together to end illegal dumping."

To view the illegal dumping ordinance, tinyurl.com/SJCDumpOrd. To report violations, use the MySanJoaquin App, call 209-468-3074, or visit www.SJCRecycle.org.