Illegal Dumping Man Fined

Not sure if you remember, but this blog started last August, just after I caught a guy dumping his construction garbage in my dumpster. My husband and I went into the back lane and found this guy loading our dumpster with wood scraps, metal scraps, and a door that he was taking out of his truck. We told him that he was not allowed to dump his construction waste in our dumpster, and if he did not remove the stuff, I would report him to the By-Law people and he would be fined. He chose not to remove his illegally dumped garbage, and he got fined.
I sent an email to Peter DeGraff at the By-Law office the other day, to get an update on the issue. I had filed a statement on this incident in November, after the By-Law department finally got information on the owner of the truck based on the license plate I provided. That's a whole other story ("City By-Law Officers Are A Facade") and the statement, finally ("Illegal Dumping Man Found And I Am Making A Statement").
I got an answer from DeGraff regarding the incident. It seems the guy went to court in January and pled guilty. He was fined $50.00. If my information is correct, this is the first time anyone has been fined for illegal dumping. So, this is a big deal.
But, I can't help thinking that was not a very big fine. What would it have cost the guy to dump construction material at the Brady Landfill? Although if he went to Brady, I am sure he would say it was basic residential trash, and pay a lesser amount. Then there is the whole expense of court costs, By-Law officer time, the extra garbage truck that was required to come down and remove the door from the dumpster. Again, another story ("The Dumpsters Got Emptied - Well Mostly"). As far as a deterent, $50.00 fine for every time the individual is caught, the person catching them wishes to push By-Laws into actually prosecuting the individual, and enough evidence is found to take the illegal dumper to court? The odds are still in favor of the guy doing the dumping. But I will still push for fines on every single illegal dumper I catch throwing their garbage where it doesn't belong. Someone has to tell these people they are committing an offense.