LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger will present a motion at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting that asks for a coordinated plan to combat the problem of illegal waste disposal in the Antelope Valley.
“I am very concerned about the increase of illegal dumping, particularly in the Antelope Valley,” Barger said. “Illegal dumping is a blight on the community that erodes the quality of life for our residents.”
Barger's motion cites a 2007 ordinance adopted by the board that requires residents and businesses in unincorporated Antelope Valley communities to pay for trash pickup, or to file as “self-haulers.” However, since the ordinance passed, only one application to be a self-hauler has been filed, which some see as proof that the inconvenience of the dumping process has dissuaded residents and commercial entities from following proper protocol.
The second root cause of the issue, according to the motion, is enforcement. While county departments have filed notices of violation on land that contains illegal waste, the property owners of such land are not always the party at fault, as they often live out of state or even out of the country.
“There are many possible approaches to solve this problem. Residents should be incentivized to dispose of waste legally and illegal dumping enforcement efforts must be significantly increased,” Barger said.
The motion asks fellow board members to direct the county Chief Executive Office to convene the Department of Public Works, Department of Regional Planning, Department of Public Health, County Counsel, the District Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Department, County Fire, the Illegal Dumping Task Force, and other pertinent county departments to create a coordinated action plan with recommendations to address illegal dumping in the Antelope Valley, as well as other rural areas of the county.
The recommendations, she said, should include a coordinated county- driven illegal dumping enforcement plan, an assessment of existing funding for these efforts and, if necessary, recommendations for the allocation of additional funds and strategies to incentivize residents to dispose of waste legally in a proper setting.