Private property used as illegal dumping ground

Property owners in Montana Vista are upset with the growing number of illegal dumping cases near their homes.

"At $26 per ton it's cheaper for people to dump in the desert than at a landfill," said Cristina Viesca-Santos, El Paso County environmental prosecutor.

KFOX14 drove along Oshea road after a neighbor called about contractors dumping roofing debris off the road. Just after the pavement turns to dirt near Hope road, tires, chunks of cement, toilets, appliances, furniture, and rotting animal carcasses line the road.

"It's getting worse," said the neighbor who didn't want to be identified for fear of repercussions from people nearby who may be doing some of the dumping. "You can't go down any of these roads without seeing junk on the side."

Among the debris are weathered signs from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office warning dumpers of the fines for throwing away their trash in the desert.

Viesca-Santos said the county doesn't have the funds to clean up the mess left by illegal dumpers, and if the junk is on private property, it's the property owners responsibility to clean it up

"The trash stays there until the property owner picks it up," said Viesca- Santos. "Even when they are victims of illegal dumping. That's why we really push creating some kind of boundary like a fence or a trench."

Fines for dumping vary by the weight of the object dumped, according to Viesca-Santos. The punishment for a class C misdemeanor can be about $50 but a class A misdemeanor can earn a $4,000 fine and one year in jail.