A neighbor reported an illegal dump site along the foothills in East Reno last month. This weekend, an inmate crew with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office will clean it up.
"One of the attractions of our area is the great outdoors all this open space," said Bob Harmon of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. "The downside is the access to open space attracts illegal dumping."
The Sheriff's Office tries to keep on top of these illegal dump sites; otherwise, they have a tendency to grow.
"If sites like this don't get cleaned up in a timely manner, it's just a matter of time before people come out here and this dump site would get larger and larger," Harmon said.
This has been an ongoing battle for public safety officials for years. It's a safety issue and a crime. However, it's hard to prosecute.
"Often there are no witnesses to illegal dumping and when there is, a lot of times it's still hard to make that investigation complete," Harmon said.
If you come across illegal dumping sites, the best thing to do is report them. WCSO even has a free app for that.
"You take a picture, it'll go to us - and don't worry about what jurisdiction you're in, we'll get the GPS coordinates with the picture - and the folks on our end will take it from there," Harmon said. "If you see actually in progress you can call dispatch and we'll respond, but the most important thing is to keep yourself safe."
Waste Management surveyed the site with the Sheriff's Office on Thursday. They're donating dumpsters for the cleanup and for next weekend's Great Community Cleanup Day, an annual event where hundreds of residents team up with Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful.
"As we've cleaned up dump sites year after year, those sites have dwindled," Harmon said. "People have moved on, so the work KTMB does is having a positive impact but the battle is far from over."
