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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-01-11; City Council; 7259; Illegal Dumpingm hB#= MTG. 1-11-83 DEPT. MNT cr, I TITLE: ILLEGAL DUMPING rl rl I rl - I CITi UF CARLSBAD - AGENDA ,iLL DEPT. HD. CITY Am& CITY MG R. ZEL RECOMMENDED ACTION: Information item for City Council review. ITEM EXPLANATION: The City has been experiencing a proliferation of illegal refuse dumping in various locations citywide. In a recent survey by Maintenance, five dump sites were identified. These sites contained an estimated 8,000 yards of refuse. The estimated cost of cleanup for these sites is estimated to be in excess of $75,000. The Police Department has been enforcing dumping laws and the Maintenance Department has been monitoring areas for new sites. However, these measures are only able to control a small portion of the problem. The existing problems will require a cleanup of present sites and a program for controlling future illegal dumping. Several alternatives have been developed which are being submitted for review by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT: None EXHIBITS: 1. Staff report dated January 7, 1983 2. Photographs of sites (Wall) 3. Location map (Wall) I JANUARY 7, 1983 TO: CITY MANAGER FROM: Assistant City Manager/Operations ACCUMULATION OF ILLEGALLY DUMPED REFUSE/CITY WIDE This report has been developed in order to evaluate the growing problem of illegally dumped refuse in the City of Carlsbad. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS It is evident that as the city grows and refuse collection points become less accessible, the potential for illegal dumping will increase. In a recent survey by the Ma'rintenance Department of the city, five "dump sites" were identified as containing over 500 dump loads of refuse (this represents over 7500 yards of refuse material). The cleanup costs for just these five sites is estimated to be approximately $75,000. Since these five sites do not represent all of the illegal dump sites within the city, it is clear that the prob3em will soon become unmanageable if solutions are not developed. The information in this report has been compiled in order that the City Council can provide guidance to city staff in developing those solutions in a cost effective manner. DISCUSSION Recently, the Operations Division of the city became aware of the problem of illegal dumping of refuse in the city. The sources of the information developed from citizen complaints, monitored by city staff and increased enforcement on the part of the police department. A preliminary analysis of the problem indicated that there are numerous areas within the city where unknown persons have been dumping refuse. The areas are generally located on undeveloped lands at or near residential neighborhoods. The refuse consists of three general catagories of litter: trash ordinarily picked up via trash service, cuttings from landscaping service and waste from construction sites. The Mai'ntendnce Department conducted a study of illegal dumping sites that would be representative of general conditions in the city. Five specific areas were randomly selected in order to evaluate the scope of the problem. The five areas selected were identified from previous citizen complaints and from city staff monitoring. While the sites selected for survey tended to be relatively visible to public view, there are many sites in the city that, due to large open spaces, have yet to become "visual problems. 'I - 1' January 7, 1983 Illegally Dumped Refuse Page 2 The site surveys were conducted by public works staff with the assistance of an independent contractor who was asked to provide job quotations for each site. Job quotations included load estimates and collection costs. The five sites surveyed are: Removal Location Estimated Refuse Load Price Rancho Santa Fe Road 25-30 End Dump- $ 4,493 between La Costa Ave. loads and Questhaven Road (So. Side) 1-5 Frontage (West) 9 End Dump- $ 780 between Camino De Las Ondas loads and Poinsettia Lane 1-5 (East) between Camino De Las Ondas and Poinsettia Lane 3 End Dump- $ 330 loads Paseo Del Norte (East & West 200 End Dump- $31,759 sides) between Camino De LasOndas loads and Poinsettia Lane Rancho Santa Fe Road 250-300 End Dump- $37,748 North of Cadencia Street loads (North side) TOTAL 5 Sites 542 End Dumploads $75,110 (8 , 130 yards) As can be noted, the five sites surveyed account for an estimated 8,130 yard@ of refuse which would cost an estimated $75,000 to remove to an authorized landfill. The results of this survey havesignificantly and graphically indicated the extent that illegal dumping can cause in damage to the community. Aside from the expense of refuse removal, the environ- mental and aesthetic damage to the community is severe. The potential for health hazards and fire danger will require that the city develop control measures to prevent future dumping. 3 I .. I .~ January 7, 1983 Iillegally Dumped Refuse Page 3 The impact of the problem is in the ability of the city to control it. Even with the increased patrol and enforcement of potential dump sites, it is virtually impossible to control. CONCLUSION Based upon the Maintenance survey, the problem of illegal dumping was found to be two-fold; first, how will the cleanup of existing dump sites be accomplished, and second, how can illegal dumping be controlled. As previously noted from the survey, the cost of cleanup of just the five sites in question is substantial ($75,000). The question of financial liability for the cleanup then becomes a critical issue. Since illegal dumping is a blight to the community as a whole, should the city suffer the liability? or should the property owners be responsible for the liability? These are questions that have to be answered. There are, however, a number of alternatives that should be examined before decisions are made. They are: .. .. .. .. .. .. In The city accepts the liability and cleans the dump sites, absorbing the costs in the fiscal 83/84 budget. The city require property owners to cleanup their property or the city will clean and bill the owners, using a process similiar to the weed abatement program. The city develop a volunteer program to clean the various areas in cooperation with city crews. The city develop a work program through the judicial system system to provide the labor for trash cleanup. The city investigate the possible use of the California Conservation Corps in assisting the cleanup. The city develop an incentive program that would reimburse private citizens for loads of trash cleaned up. could substantially reduce the costs.) (This any case, the city should continue to monitor and enforce the laws Gelating to illegal dumping. In order to maintain a clean and healthy environment in the community, the City of Carlsbad needs to develop appropriate measures to eradicate the problem. While city staff is doing its best to con- trol the problem, stronger measures are in order. BILL BALDWIN Assistant City Manager/Operations : gb