Costa County provides a wide range of scenic and natural beauty. From the many acres of wide open space, to beautiful hiking trails with panoramic views, to the serenity and activity of the Delta, to the scenery of Mount Diablo serving as a picturesque backdrop, there are an infinite number of things here in East County to admire and enjoy visually.
East County residents have been vocal as they say there is an ongoing notable visual blight problem which continues to exist throughout many parts of East Contra Costa County; littering and illegal dumping. And it is a problem that continues to persist.
“I’m passionate about it!” said Antioch resident Beverly Knight, who makes it a point to pick up two bags of garbage weekly at Mira Vista Park and City Park. Long tired of the litter, Knight has adopted these parks so that children and families have a clean place to play, even picking up broken glass, cigarette butts, and even birthday party confetti. “We spend millions on picking up litter, but what are we doing to prevent it?”
Stacey Frost, a resident of East County since the mid-1980’s, mentioned that she has been planning to retire out of state because the littering and dumping problem has been so overwhelming.
“You cannot go anywhere in East County any longer without garbage blowing in the wind, piled in parking lots of shopping areas, abandoned piles of household furniture along back country roads and dumped in neighborhoods,” said Frost. “We have so many bills being introduced and signed into law for requirements for clean air, water quality, protecting endangered plants and animals, and banning plastic bags. All of these bills and laws are to protect us and the wildlife around us from one thing; pollutants, yet one of the primary sources currently polluting our state is household garbage.
Additionally, multiple Facebook groups have now popped within the past few months up which take photographs of the blight and dumping and post them for residents to see which results in dialogue.
Illegal dumping on private property along Kirker Pass. Photo provided by Stacey Frost
“I regularly get calls from constituents about illegal dumping. It’s a huge problem in East County and Public Works estimates it’s costing the County $1 million dollars every year,” said Supervisor Diane Burgis. “The Board of Supervisors will be considering a waste hauler ordinance that would create a permitting process that would allow Code Enforcement to go after illegal dumpers. I’ve also reached out to the garbage hauling companies, the District Attorney’s office, and County staff about convening an Illegal Dumping Task Force in East County. In Antioch, Public Works says they see a variety of littering and dumping, but notes it’s not just within the city, but all over the county who is dealing with similar issues. Scores of litter are often visible alongside city streets, vacant lots, empty fields, main roads and along Highway 4, particularly on the on and off-ramps and along the shoulders. Street sweepers are often utilized to clean up the mess and debris on the roadways, but within a short period of time, the litter returns.”
In Antioch, they conduct litter abatement activities explained Code Enforcement Manager Curt Michael.
“The City of Antioch conducts litter abatement activity through Commercial Support Services in various areas throughout the City, which results in approximately 80 garbage bags of litter removed from city streets and sidewalks each month,” said Michael. “Additionally, the City of Antioch’s Abatement Team removes illegally dumped junk from city streets, sidewalks, and other public areas.”
According to Michael, approximately 100 cubic yards of dumped debris are removed from city property on a weekly basis. Michael notes that if less time and resources are utilized towards collecting illegally dumped garbage, the city can use those resources to focus on other things.
“Illegal dumping and littering creates a visual blight which has a negative effect on a community’s quality of life.” added Michael. “With less occurrences of illegal dumping and littering on city property, the Abatement Team could spend more time on graffiti abatement, abandoned shopping cart abatement, or assisting Public Works with other projects.
Countywide, $14 million dollars annually is allotted to maintain the 363 main miles of roads and grounds in Contra Costa County. The funds are raised through a gas tax, which has been decreasing since 2009 due to the advent of more fuel efficient cars such hybrid and electric vehicles. The majority of those funds are utilized for arguably more important issues, such a pothole repair and fixing pipes.
“We see both; littering and dumping all throughout the county,” said Assistant Public Works Director Allison Knapp. “Furniture, mattresses, refrigerators, couches, we see it all. What people also don’t understand is that the trash and debris can get into our waterways, where it can affect wildlife and their habitats.”
The City of Brentwood averages one to two cleans ups a month to combat littering and dumping. Brentwood Public Works have collected approximately 178 cubic yards of illegally dumped trash and debris so far this year, while street sweepers have collected approximately 1,173,000 pounds of debris from city streets. Additionally, approximately 10 cubic yards of trash has been collected this year along Marsh Creek and various other locations in partnership with volunteer groups, such as the Friends of Marsh Creek.
“Our city prides itself on keeping our surface streets, parks and city facilities clean for our amazing citizens and visitors,” said Brentwood Police Lieutenant Walter O’Grodnick. “Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of trash and debris recovered from homeless encampments in various spots throughout the city. These clean-ups can be costly depending on the amount of trash left behind and the resources used to perform the clean-ups. The amount of time and resources used to mitigate and clean-up trash could absolutely be used in other areas, such as preventive maintenance on our surface streets, parks, and other city facilities to name a few.”
The City of Oakley has a contract with the non-profit Commercial Support Services to assist with the trash and litter pickup at City parks and facilities. Much of the $60,000 annual budget is spent servicing trash cans, although some of that is used for litter clean up, particularly during significantly windy days, where litter becomes more visible.
“Oakley residents do a good job helping to pick up litter,” said City Manager Assistant Nancy Marquez. “We appreciate all residents that pick up trash as they see it to help Oakley become even more litter free.”
If Antioch residents observe any illegal dumping activity or littering and wish to report it, they are encouraged to notify the Antioch Police Department at (925) 778-3911. To report any illegally dumped junk or garbage on city property, residents and businesses may contact the Code Enforcement Division at (925)779-7042, or visit the web page at: http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/CommDev/Code-Enforcement. Antioch Police can issue a citation to any individuals that is caught illegally dumping if they witness the illegal action.
Additionally, for any volunteers or organizations interested in assisting with litter pickup or removal in Oakley, they can contact [email protected]. Vests, bags, and pickup tools will be provided by the City to volunteers who wish to participate in litter removal.
The City of Brentwood’s Public Works Department provides regular Neighborhood Cleanup Events, and more information can be found at (http://brentwoodca.gov/gov/pw/recycling/events.asp ), along with information from the Contra Costa Clean Water Program at http://www.cccleanwater.org
19 comments
Illegal dumping is a problem everywhere, and in some areas – a lot worse. It’s pathetic.
I have noticed Oakley and Brentwood cleaner of trash today than prior years. I have also noticed east county being trashed more or our maintenance working less on the problem. Vasco Road with its water reservoir, wildlife refuges, and drainage into our drinking water totally ignored. In fact, I see alameda county cleaning up their end while pleas and letters to the supervisor and county have been ignored. Taxes are also collected for street sweepers in a storm run off tax we pay (see your tax bill) yet in thirty years I have never seen storm drains or the sides of Vasco cleaned. Making a new law as Supervisor Burgis suggests is a waste. There are tons of laws already in affect. She needs to take charge and handle the issue. Lip service does nothing to prevent polluted water and damaged wildlife.
If the transfer station had reasonable prices or our garbage service offered an annual dump run included in our bill, I’m sure there would be some decrease in illegal dumping.
They do offer 10 large garbage bags and 1 or 2 large items picked up per year, depends on the city. But, yes the prices that the dumps garge are insane.
Unfortunately, leaving a pile of garbage bags at the curb will turn into a giant mess when the scavenger vagrants tear through it.
Oscar, you are wrong. The Unlawful and disrespectful just don’t Give a Sssss. That’s the problem.
I am not wrong about high prices at the dump. I am not wrong about a reduction in illegal dumping if there were reasonable prices at the dump. But you are 100% correct about the disrespectful losers that don’t give a $h!t being the main problem.
If seen people in a car, next to me at a redlight throw their fast food trash out the window. Nothing is surprising about this, they dont work for anything, so they dont understand that tax payers pay for this. Thank you California for enabling these losers and showing them that you dont have to work hard or respect things, because someone else will fix or clean up after you.
This has nothing to do with the cost of taking things to the dump or an annual dump run and everything to do with NO CLASS! A friend of mine lives in a city where the dump is now free (they used to charge) and the city garbage plan includes pick ups of mattresses, etc. And illegal dumping is STILL a problem. Why? Because low class people DON’T CARE. They don’t have any respect for others or the land. It’s pathetic. Sadly, there’s nothing you can do to get people to care. You either care or you don’t. It’s pathetic.
Speaking of the topic and the County’s involvement, there is a grant paid to the County and allocated by Supervisor Glover’s office. The grant is made to the county specifically to allow, now Republic Services, formerly Allied Waste to build the dump in East County, and the intention was to mitigate the impact of the dump on the area, thus the name, Keller Canyon Mitigation Fund. About 15 years ago, the County Board of Supervisors decided that they could use this money for whatever they wanted as long as it was within a targeted area (mostly Pittsburg/Bay Point). Money specifically intended to mitigate the impact of the dump now goes to almost anything but mitigation of the dump. One of the only beneficiary programs of this mitigation fund that actually tries to mitigate the direct impact of the dump is the County Public Works Department, Facilities Division, that regularly sends crews out to the area near the dump to pick up refrigerators. Despite needing more manpower to keep up with a seemingly impossible task, that direct mitigation program, for which this money was intended, was cut from $35,000 per year for the last several years to only $25,000 this fiscal year. It is believed that Republic Services is going to begin to cover a larger area near the dump for litter abatement, thus the reduction in the grant awarded to the Facilities Division. The County spends other money on cleanup in this area, but it seems a bit odd that, of a $1.5m grant this year, only $25,000 of it is actually going towards the original intended purpose of the grant. The rest, you can see here.
This is OUR community, and we should all have a voice in it. I feel that the grant is being misused, but others in the community may feel that the programs it is being awarded to are more important than litter abatement. That is for everyone to decide as a community. Bickering here on the internet does absolutely no good for anyone. If it makes you feel better to vent, great, knock yourself out, but if you actually want to impact change, do some legwork and see where the money is going and go to your BoS meetings or your City Council meetings and demand that your voice be heard and your opinion counted. If you’re in the minority opinion, so be it – it’s still better to stand up and lose than to sit down and whine.
For your perusal – an easily obtained PDF from the County’s public website detailing where the $1.5m for litter abatement will actually be going this fiscal year. Enjoy! Or not… but don’t just whine about it.
http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/41658
Guy,
Thank you for exposing our Supervisors ability to fund the clean up of trash contamination in east county. The storm water tax, the gas tax, the Keller funds are well over three million dollars. This article claims it cost one million. This is totally unacceptable. Contamination of our water and the damage to wildlife by this trash will be irreversible if not dealt with now. Contact your county supervisor and ask when they are going to address the problem. Don’t allow lip service answers. The money for clean up is already there. It is being diverted elsewhere.
52 dollars for a mattress at the dump
Most of this is due to the outrageous fees for taking the stuff to the dump! But what is law enforcement doing about it? Zilch! There are very, very stiff fines for illegal dumping, but they do no good if the laws are not enforced. If the government is spending millions on this, how about investing a few hundred thousand, in catching these outlaws?
Most of these illegal dumpings are done in the middle of the night, its not that simple.
Not in my area. They do it right in the middle of the day. Behind Walgreens and Rent to Own and the other stores. Even so, if they can put out cameras in the forest to get photos of wild animals, they can certainly do the same for these animals!
They don’t give a ****. They’d dump on the side of the road even if the dump was free. Quit making excuses for their irresponsibility. They straight up don’t give a ****.
I’ve visited other states and cities where dumping has never been a problem because of how some cities have this set up… In WA state, each city has it’s own unit where people bring their discards (all sizes) along with their proof of having trash pick up service … and they drive into the designated areas (chemicals are separated from other discards) and they don’t pay anything for furniture, newspapers, etc. I helped friends dispose of refrigerators, stoves, old windows, car parts and there are even people there to help in the unloading.
No matter how the city sets it up, it will always be a problem in CA. WA isn’t CA. Don’t blame the city. It’s the low life’s who don’t care – period.
True about the low lifes. We still pay extensive taxes for our government to clean it up. They are using the money somewhere else. It’s unacceptable. The local government has many resources too. The problem is our local paid government leaders are not doing the job we pay them for. A part of that is directing departments to keep the trash from getting into our drinking water and affecting our wildlife. When trash is dumped it attracts more. Stop it before it becomes irreversible or creates unnesecary damage. We all pay multiple taxes to keep our roads clean and maintained. The powers to be are failing us miserably.
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