If you live in or near a big city—and likely even if you don’t—you’ve seen it: a huge pile of tires on the side of the road, abandoned construction debris in a vacant lot, or a sheen floating on the surface of a bayou or creek. Unfortunately, such sights are all too common in the modern industrialized world.
It’s estimated that more than 100 million tons of waste are dumped annually worldwide. The United States dumps nearly 1.5 million tons of trash. This figure doesn’t even account for cigarette butts, plastic bags, and other forms of small, personal litter. Illegal dumping laws usually focus on larger deposits of trash, with a minimum of 15 pounds or 27 cubic feet. While commercial deposits of waste are often much larger, it’s worth noting that a single trash can’s worth of garbage is enough to get someone in trouble.
The most commonly dumped items are those that are not easy to dispose of, such as tires, furniture, large appliances, construction debris, landscape waste, chemicals, and fluorescent lights. Sometimes, whole cars are left to rust. Moreover, bags of household trash thrown from a moving vehicle dot the side of many roads. Neighborhood residents frequently dump oil and other chemicals down storm drains when they don’t know what else to do. Frequent dumpsites include those on or near highways, in rights-of-way such as railroad rights-of-way, along bayous, creeks, rivers, and coastal shores. They can even be found in public and private parks.
The reasons why dumping is bad are easy to list: it’s ugly, often harmful to the soil, water, and even the air, it’s a fire hazard, a breeding ground for vermin and disease, and often attracts other types of crime to its neglected locale. The toxicity of the dumping grounds negatively affects the health of both humans and wildlife. Not only does this impact those nearby, but it often spreads surprisingly far downstream or downwind. Local economies are depressed as property values are dragged down. Furthermore, residents, desensitized to the blight, pile on, making the problem worse and further driving away business and investment. When the community can no longer tolerate the mess, taxpayers often end up paying the cost of cleanup. For all these reasons and more, dumping in non-designated areas is illegal.
In Texas, illegal dumping offenses are not limited to dropping garbage on the ground. It is also an offense to allow dumping, transporting litter, or receiving litter at any place that is not an approved solid waste site, even if it is on your own private property. Violations range from Class C to Class A misdemeanors, and penalties include both fines and possibly jail time. Three or more convictions can be escalated to a felony. Both companies and individuals can be held liable for illegal dumping. Waste greater than 1,000 pounds can also lead to more severe charges. In addition, toxic chemicals or waste dumped into water can also result in more serious charges.
For the full definition of the Texas illegal dumping laws, HS 365.
Most businesses that produce significant amounts of solid waste have some form of federal, state, or industry guidelines for identifying types of waste and prescribed methods of disposal for each. Even if most businesses start out with good intentions, there are plenty of points where standards can slip along the way.
Reasons for illegal dumping vary. The most common one is that the nearest legal disposal site is simply too far away, particularly in rural areas where landfills are few and far between. Cost is another factor; long-distance transport adds up, and some types of waste require special processing and/or storage that add fees on top of that and might be even farther away. Lack of education on available disposal options can be an issue in some areas. Finally, there’s always the good old human aversion to inconvenience, even when legal options are readily available. The decision to dump illegally can come from the corner-cutting executive or the overstretched truck driver, or anywhere in between.
The key aspect for determining liability is knowledge: who knew illegal dumping was happening, and when? If your employee or contractor decides to break protocol on his own without telling anyone, then only he might be held liable for illegal dumping. If you found out about it and the dumping continued, however, then obviously, liability moves up the chain of command.
Large companies, in particular, may have hundreds or even thousands of moving parts for tracking waste once it’s out the door. It can be easy to get lost in the shuffle if you don’t have tracking and verification procedures in place to manage the process. Edge Engineering & Science can help your company implement systems to document, track, and verify outgoing waste disposal shipments. This will ensure that your solid waste gets to the destination it’s supposed to. As a result, you remain in compliance with the law and in good standing with your community.
