By Daniel Hiestand
Lane County Waste Reduction Outreach Coordinator
Welcome to the first post of the WasteWise Blog. I’m not crazy about the blog name, so expect changes soon. For now, it gets the point across.
Much like our WasteWise News publication, this will be a clearinghouse for waste prevention and environmental sustainability. I’ll post interesting news, county resources, and everything in between.
I encourage you to sign up for blog updates and to follow WasteWise Lane County on Facebook and Instagram if you aren’t already. Let’s get to it.
Illegal dumping: Both an unfortunate term and a real problem in Lane County
Let’s face it: illegal dumping is one of those terms that sounds bad. And guess what? It is.
Tires, couches, boats, mattresses, clothing...yep, you know. Fortunately, Lane County’s Nuisance Abatement Program cleans up illegal dump sites along county roads. When identified, illegal dumpers face civil citations and may be ordered to pay for cleanup costs.
And guess what? If you spot illegal dumping, you can do something about it. How? Here is a quick rundown of the four ways you can notify the Nuisance Abatement Program.
I reached out to Nuisance Abatement Coordinator Dan Wood to ask him for some data, and here’s what he reported.
- From Jan. 1, 2022, until Nov. 1, 2022, the county has cleaned up 680 dumps, including 638 tires, 91 mattresses, and four boats (yes, boats?!).
- Dan said he expects the program will address well over 700 dumps by year’s end.
Past year totals include:
- 2021: 671 dumps
- 2020: 660 dumps
- 2019: 641 dumps
- 2018: 517 dumps
To help address the issue, the county welcomed Kyle Jones (pictured) as a Nuisance Abatement Technical Specialist in September to support Dan in his work. Kyle started working for Lane County in 2003 at Lane County Parks. 
Kyle’s responsibilities will include patrolling transfer sites and investigating reports of illegal dumping, issuing citations to violators, assessing and mapping illegal dump/camping sites, and facilitating cleanup operations with partner agencies, the public, and contractors.
Let’s all help Dan and Kyle in their work as we seek to keep county lands as clean as possible. And prevent me from having to type the term "illegal dump" ever again.