Illegal dumping complaints have fallen dramatically over the past three years in San Joaquin County, but there’s still too much junk strewn around vacant lots, gullies and roadsides that needs to be picked up and hauled away.
That was the conclusion of officials appearing before the county Board of Supervisors this week to monitor progress of the “Three E’s” plan.
The county’s Illegal Dumping Task Force, formed in 2022, developed its Education, Enforcement and Eradication plan. The efforts bring together the Administrator’s Office, Public Works, the Sheriff’s Office, Community Development and the District Attorney’s Office to support the county’s illegal dumping ordinance.
Part of the problem in deterring dumping, the board was told Tuesday, are the relatively low fines — $100 for the first offense — for the infractions. Violators are issued citations, similar to a traffic ticket, and many have gone unpaid.
While the board didn’t take action on increasing penalties, supervisors indicated they might be receptive to that suggestion.
“Everyone in this community is just tired of garbage,” said an exasperated Supervisor Mario Gardea, adding that it irritates him that “people have the ill regard to just trash our neighborhoods.”
Gardea floated the idea of seizing and impounding vehicles involved in illegal dumping, similar to how the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office has been using that tactic to curb illegal street takeovers.
The good news is that there is progress.
The county received 1,020 complaints about illegal dumping in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The bulk came from Stockton. The following year, the number had fallen to 775, and last fiscal year, it was down to 612. That’s a 40% decrease during the three-year span.
The types of items being dumped has dropped too. According to a county report, the number of discarded tires is down by half, and dumped appliances — refrigerators, stoves and more — have dipped by more than a third since the “Three E’s” program went into effect.
“This progress reflects what’s possible when county agencies and residents work together
toward a shared goal,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Sonny Dhaliwal said. “Every effort to prevent illegal dumping helps protect our neighborhoods.”
Still, the overall volume of illegally dumped trash being picked up is virtually unchanged from the first year of the program.
“We are seeing measurable progress in certain areas but not yet a sustained reduction in the overall cleanup burden,” said David Tolliver, a deputy director in the county Public Works.
The county’s illegal dumping ordinance got a $2 million infusion in 2022 not long after it went into effect. Much of that money has gone to a public relations campaign that has included billboards, radio ads and signage to encourage the public to not dump garbage illegally. The county also devotes 10 to 16 Flock surveillance cameras to monitor areas for illegal disposals of waste.