An illegal dump site along Hwy. 74 will be cleaned up soon
The operator at Riverside County Code Enforcement said that she’d contact a police officer about the massive dumpsite along Highway 74 near Idyllwild. (See blog article posted on March 30, 2010). There was a front-load washer, two armchairs, a mattress, an old TV and several tires among the debris there.
“Since it’s not a residence with a parcel number, we have to contact a code enforcement officer,” she said. She would have Officer Carol Foray call back.
She was quick about it. Officer Foray asked about the contents of the site, the general area and the mile marker, which was no. 52.
“I’ll take a GPS device and try and figure out the coordinates of that parcel,” she said. “Someone owns it.”
The next step, she said, would be to send a cleanup notice to the owners, and they’d have 30 days to clean it up.
“The owners may live out of the area, and more than likely, they don’t know about the dump site. We have to give them time to send someone to clean it up. They are entitled to due process,” Officer Foray said.
Ordinance 541.5, which was enacted recently, gives Code Enforcement officers an expedited way of dealing with illegal dumping, she said, without having to get permission from the County Board of Supervisors.
“Idyllwild is unusual because it is an unincorporated area in Riverside County. There is no mayor, so the County Board of Supervisors acts as the governing body,” she said. “With this ordinance, we don’t have to contact them every time we find an illegal dump site.”
Mile Marker 52/83 pinpoints the exact dump location
Two days later, Officer Foray called back requesting more detailed information on the location.
“I’ve been up and down that highway, and cannot find the illegal dumping location,” she said. “Mile marker 52 stretches an entire mile, which is a long way with many pullouts.”
She requested the tenth of a mile numbers located on the same mile marker. It would help her pinpoint the exact location.
The Idyllwild resident who first reported finding the illegal dumpsite said that it was mile marker 52/83.
“It’s at the widest part of the pullout at mile marker 52/83,” she said. “If you stand at that point, you can see it immediately over the edge. But if the officer goes to mile marker 52/97, she’s gone too far.”
When asked what the fine would be for a site of that magnitude, Officer Foray wouldn’t speculate. She referred all further media questions to Hector, her supervisor.
To report illegal dumping in the Idyllwild area, contact (951) 600-6140.
To help eliminate your household hazardous waste, visit the Idyllwild Area Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on May 15 at the County Road Yard located at 25780 Johnson Road. There, you can bring computers, old cans of paint, and other household hazardous materials to donate, without having to go to Lamb Canyon and pay a disposal fee. For more information, visit www.rivcowm.org.
The Idyllwild Arts van was parked outside a large Asian supermarket in Los Angeles. It was Spring Break, and several home-stay students were inside buying groceries. A couple of them were waiting in the van, when a man walked up to his car with a cartful of groceries. He opened up the trunk, took out a white bathroom sink and laid it on the parking lot pavement, then put in several bags of groceries.
“I was waiting for him to put the sink back in his car,” said Chia-Ti “Fion” Chen, an Interdisciplinary Arts major. “But he just smiled at me, left it there and drove away.”
A couple of small children had to step over the deserted sink on their way to their SUV.
“Look, Dad!” There’s a sink on the ground!” they exclaimed in Spanish.
Illegal dumping doesn’t just happen on the streets of LA, but along the scenic hillsides of Idyllwild. Not only is it unsightly, but also it’s considered a crime that comes with a hefty $1,000 fine, if convicted. The trouble is, unlike the Asian market scenario, the dumping perpetrators are rarely caught in the act.
Recently, an Idyllwild resident found a massive illegal dumping site along Hwy. 74 towards Idyllwild from Hemet. The woman had just stopped in the pullout by mile marker number 52 to stretch and take pictures of the panoramic view. However, when she looked down, she saw an unsightly pile of refuse. Scattered down the hillside was a washer, a queen-sized mattress, two armchairs, and a roll of carpeting, screens, an old-fashioned TV, a child’s car seat and several old tires.
“It looked like the person just drove a truck up to the edge, and chucked the items overboard,” she said. “The front-loaded washer, looked brand new and could have been sold or donated to a thrift store. Even our local dump would have taken those items.”
“It’s really sad that they prefer to deface our beautiful countryside and endanger birds and animals for their convenience,” she added.
“Sure, we’ll take an old mattress,” said Ramon, one of the guys who works for Waste Management at the Idyllwild Transfer Station. He pointed to a section set aside for large, bulky items such as mattresses, furniture and carpeting. He would have taken the washer too, he said. None of them had to be working or in good condition.
“Tires and refrigerators are the only things that I cannot take,” added Ramon. “But if they have an approved sticker on the refrigerators, they’re OK.”
He explained that refrigerators have a liquid inside that reacts to sunlight and can emit toxic chemicals. However, if a professional removes the liquid, then he can accept the refrigerator. David Sandlin in Idyllwild can perform this type of service for refrigerators, he said. Call him at (951) 659-2954.
“Some guys have taken the doors off of refrigerators, and even cut the cords, but as long as they have the chemical inside them, I cannot take them,” Ramon added.
On May 15, there will be another Idyllwild Area Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event at the County Road Yard located at 25780 Johnson Road. There, you can bring computers, old cans of paint, and other household hazardous materials to donate, without having to go to Lamb Canyon and pay a disposal fee. For more information, visit www.rivcowm.org.
“I would have taken the chairs, the TV and washer, but only if they were working,” said Karen, one of the owners of Earth Angels, a popular thrift store off Hwy. 243. For a small charge, they’ll even pick up those bulky items from your house in Idyllwild or Pine Cove. Call (951) 663-9044.
Riverside County has taken a stance against illegal dumping, and Code Enforcement patrols are en force everywhere, including Idyllwild. According to the Riverside County Waste Management web site, www.riversidecfb.com, illegal dumping can carry a fine up to $5,000 for individuals and up to $10,000 for commercial cases. They can even impound your vehicle for up to 30 days.
Illegally dumped mattress is close to Hwy. 74 up to Idyllwild
“Once people see items along the road, then they dump more there, and then it becomes a nuisance,” said the operator from the Riverside County Trash Task Force. She couldn’t cite a dollar amount for most illegal dumping cases here, because it depends upon the CHP officer’s hours.
To report illegal dumping in the Idyllwild area, call (951) 600-6140.
For proper disposal of your items, go to the Idyllwild Transfer Station located at 28100 Saunders Meadow Road. Daily operating hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It’s closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays and most holidays. Lamb Canyon is located at 16411 Lamb Canyon Road in Beaumont. It’s open from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and closed Sundays. However, it’s open on the first Sunday of the month.
By all appearances, Idyllwild has the perfect set-up for recycling. Just down the street on Saunders Meadow, our transfer station offers recycling of bottles, cans, glass and even organic materials, such as leaves, twigs and branches. All you have to do is follow the signs and dump the organic recycling in the back. Yet, one local artist and activist recently discovered that not everything is recyclable.
“I called Waste Management, the company that runs our transfer station, and they told me that they’re not recycling our organic waste,” said Jessica Shiffman, an illustrator and activist living in Idyllwild. Originally, she had called to find out if she could use some of the organic material to help grow her own vegetables. Like other residents, she assumed it would be broken down, as compost, and returned to the earth, perhaps as mulch. The Waste Management representative told her that the organic materials are just dumped into the landfill along with rubber tires and everything else.
“So why have the appearances of a separate organic dumpsite in the back?” she asked them. “People think something is being done about that, being turned into compost or fertilizer or chipping material. It’s a real shame.”
That’s not the only local recycling disappointment. Jessica also found out that the Idyllwild Post Office doesn’t recycle papers that are put into the bins by residents.
“They can’t recycle letters and other mail because there’s legal and personal information on it,” she said. “To recycle it, they’d have to shred all the paper first. They don’t have the manpower or time for all that.”
So for those resident who stand in front of the bins at the post office every day to sort and toss mail, know that all that stuff is not being recycled. It will be thrown into the trash along with everything else.
“If people prefer to have their mail and other personal papers recycled, they should take it to the transfer station themselves,” Jessica suggested. “It’s up to them if they want to shred it first.”
On the upside, Jessica found out that certain plastic recycling, like those wrappers that cover meats and cheeses, are recyclable. “They told me that it doesn’t matter much if there’s a little foodstuff left on it,” Jessica said. “They prefer everything to be clean, but it’s OK to have a little residue on the plastic wrappers.”
Another surprise was that the black plastic containers that contain plants and trees are not recyclable. “It’s a different kind of plastic,” she said. “Apparently, it’s the wrong kind, and Waste Management said they can’t recycle it.”
NOTE: Jessica Shiffman originally posted this information on Face Book.
