The Garvin County Sheriff’s Office is working to clean up the county – in more ways than you might think.
Thanks in part to a grant from the Department of Environmental Quality, the Sheriff’s Office has a new program focused on cleaning up illegal dumpsites around the county and identifying those responsible.
“I think it’s going to be a good program. We’re excited about it,” Sheriff Jim Mullett said. “It’s another avenue to try to clean up Garvin County, and I think it’s going to be a great program to help beautify our community.”
The reimbursement-basis grant can be used to buy equipment and supplies needed to clean up illegal dumpsites such as gloves, personal safety gear, shovels and trailers used to haul trash off.
“We’ve been utilizing that money to actually get us going this year with equipment, because we didn’t have the equipment to go out there and clean up the trash dumps. So, this grant helps us to get that done. It helps supplement some of the work we’re doing out in the community and in the county,” Mullett said.
The grant also pays a portion of the salary for a deputy to investigate illegal dumpsites and ensure they are cleaned up. Mullett said his office currently has a deputy assigned part-time to those duties.
The program has already cleaned up illegal dumpsites consisting of mattresses, couches, tires, and bagged trash. The grant requires the Sheriff’s Office to report how many tires, mattresses, and pounds of trash are collected from illegal dump sites each month, as well as whether charges have been submitted in an illegal dumping case.
The grant is ideally designed to curtail illegal dumping. To help accomplish that, the grant pays for signs that can be posted across the county to notify people that illegal dumping is a crime that can be prosecuted and to purchase cameras to help identify perpetrators.
“I think it’s going to be a good deterrent to have these cameras out there to help us identify the people who are doing this,” Mullett said.
Those caught illegally dumping trash or other items can face criminal charges. Mullett said there have already been cases in the county where perpetrators were identified from things left behind in the trash itself, investigators have contacted the person, and they have come back to clean up the dumpsite themselves.
“There are landfills out there where they can dump trash. I don’t know why someone has to dump it on someone else’s property. That’s unacceptable,” Mullett said. “It’s not fair for another landowner to have to go pick up someone else’s trash because they’re too lazy or can’t afford to dump trash legally.”
The program is allowing the Sheriff’s office to work closely with DEQ on other environmental issues, as well. If DEQ is notified of a violation or concern in the county, they will often call the Sheriff’s office to investigate, and in instances where waterways or groundwater may be affected by a dumpsite, Mullett said his office will communicate with DEQ about their findings so they can come out and take soil or water samples for testing.
“We’re not equipped for that, but we can lead them to the right place,” Mullett said.
The Sheriff’s Office has already applied to renew the grant again for the next fiscal year.
If citizens are aware of illegal dumping or a dumpsite, Mullett asks them to call the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office at 405-238-9900 or 1-855-211-7867. Callers may remain anonymous.
