Reporting A Dump Site In Ar Waters

[delta_queen]

No cruelty to animals exist, they dumping of livestock is legal as there is not way to have a rendering plant pick up the carcass. Also with the recent high waters is could have been a animal that drowned, so I seriously doubt any crime has been commited.

you can call 211 I heard on the radio, this number will guide you to the different depts of the Arkansas State Government and phone numbers.

Oh these couple of cows were definately just pushed over the high bluff onto the already existing dump site.

211 is a good idea. I heard about that too.

[delta_queen]

DNR (dept of natural resources) If nothing happens then take pictures and go to the newspapers and have the public get involved. In todays going green attitude things like this wont go over to well with them. Just have to be carefull not to get the evil groups involved or you might lose the right to float the river or fish it.

Pictures are a very wise idea.

Let me paint the picture here while it's fresh:

dumpsite 1: At the bottom of a 100 ft bluff looked to be a lot of household trash (matresses to food bags), old cars, appliances old and new, and a couple of *new* dead cows. The river (at the stage we floated by) was another 7 feet below that. But you could see that the recent floods had swept through the dump and spread the waste into the creek bed.

dumpsite 2: At the bottom of a 200 ft bluff had old and yes, new cars. about 3 total. all sorts of appliances, road crew work cones, you name it. Again, this site is about 5-7 feet above the current water level and the floods did indeed sweep through there too. This dumpsite is directly off of a county road and I know exaclty where it is and can see the drag marks of items going over.

Getting this stuff out will be near impossible. There are almost ZERO access roads to the creek and pretty soon it's going to be unfloatable. A huge crane would have to be broght in and I don't see that happening any time soon !

At least putting a stop to it would be a good start.

To end on a good note, the other 19 miles of our fish/float were pristine wilderness with abundant wildlife and grrreat fishing.

[delta_queen]

If you have GPS, get the coordinates of the dumpsites. They're likely on private property and the landowners may ultimately be responsible.

ohhh. Another great idea. GPS. I think my phone is capable of it, or maybe I borrow somebody's. Dumpsite #1 will be tricky to report. I know exaclty where #2 is.

[delta_queen]

From my experiance...unless you own the property that is being "dumped", you wont have a legit complaint and you will be observed as a nature hugger.

Heck, I push tons(literally) of trash off my dock that end up in Arkansas. Am I supposed to collect all that plastic, foam, and waste? I collect my fair share just fishing.

All you can do is take home more trash than you left with and feel that you contributed. The human Anthill is too big to take on yourself and not even the Gov can do it all.

Sucks, but it is what it is.

oh, you curmudgeon you. 'your experience' jived with our local judge's. He said if it's on private property, good luck.

2 or 3 weeks have past since I saw these dumps, and I'm bothered by it still. Even in my sleep. If I can report the land owners and somebody at least gives them a spanking and they think twice before doing it again, well then maybe....

[chub minnow]

No cruelty exists? How did you determine that Taxi? I'm not saying these particular cows were victims of cruelty, but I do know that people often get away with starving livestock and other cruelties. This brings us to Hoglaw's needless cruelty statement. How do you define needless? Do we need to stack chickens into tiny cages and drive them across two counties to the nearest processing plant? Probably so if we want to keep prices low, but if you really think about it it is pretty hard on the birds. I think the problem with the weak and seldom enforced cruelty law is the same as our air and water quality. The legislature prioritizes economics over air and water quality as well the animal cruelty issues. Until tourism surpasses the poultry industry in this state, that's the way it will remain.

One bright light at the end of the tunnel is that the cost of chemical fertilizer is skyrocketing with the cost of fuel. This could make shipping poultry litter out of our area as fertilizer feasible. It certainly won't help with the old appliances though;)

All I am getting at is that I agree with Hoglaw when he says "The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Go take some pictures. If you have GPS, get the coordinates of the dumpsites. They're likely on private property and the landowners may ultimately be responsible. If no one complains, nothing will happen, that's guaranteed. I'm not sure but I would assume the best way to approach this is from a water quality standpoint. The landowner has the right to put whatever he wants on his land, but that probably changes if he is polluting someone else's water (especially the State or Army Corp's water).

Taxidermist: Have you spent time on rivers in the two states? Missouri's rivers are much cleaner, with less trash and much better numbers of fish (except the White) on all of the rivers and creeks. Less broken glass, trash and autos, and from what I've seen, less poaching. Arkansas, in my opinion, has only been able to maintain healthy waterways through dumb luck and the hard work of individuals like those that saved the Buffalo. Just one man's observation.

[delta_queen]

I left a VM with our local rep for the EPA. Here is what their web page says about this situation:

Clean Water Act - Citizen Complaints

Citizen that perceive environmental problems related to the Clean Water Act should report finding to EPA. Providing quality information will greatly assist the agency in assuring compliance. Before reporting to EPA, gather as much information as you can and be prepared to relate the information over the telephone or by mail to EPA. If you cannot gather information safely and legally (e.g. do not enter private property without permission), relay your concerns to the agency and EPA will determine a best course of action.

Clean Water Act complaints should be reported to the following EPA Enforcement Coordinators:

Texas Alan Vaughn 214-665-7487

Oklahoma Robert Houston 214-665-8565

Arkansas Jana Harvill 214-665-8369

Louisiana Mona Tates 214-665-7152

New Mexico Diana McDonald 214-665-6475

You may file a complaint by telephoning the above EPA Enforcement Coordinators or by clicking on their name and submitting an e-mail. The following information should be provided with every complaint:

The physical location where the problem is occurring, including county.

Any contact names, telephone numbers, and mailing addresses.

Your name, address and telephone (you may remain anonymous, but we might not place as high a priority on anonymous complaints).

A description of the environmental concerns and any specific environmental impacts including dates and times when observed.

Please provide the name of any named Waters of the U.S. impacted. Some examples are: 1) discharge into unnamed wetland, thence to tributaries of the Rio Grande River; or 2) discharge into Galveston Bay; or 3) discharge into unnamed drainage ditches, thence to Buffalo Bayou.

Please provide the names and locations of any other businesses or activities nearby that may also be contributing to the environmental problem such as an upstream wastewater treatment plant to a fish kill.

Any additional information you have such as pictures, documentation, sampling data, historical information, stream marker number or stream segments, etc.

The following are examples of environmental problems relating to the Clean Water Act that should be reported to EPA:

Fish Kill - Any time a fish kill is observed, please report all known information such as time observed, number of fish, type of fish (if known). Additionally, you should report fish kills to U.S. Fish and Wildlife as well as their State counter parts (e.g. Texas Parks and Wildlife).

Sanitary Sewer Overflow - sanitary sewer system lines should not break and if there is a discharge, many environmental and health problems can result from untreated sewage. Please do not confuse a sanitary sewer line with a storm sewer line. In addition to reporting a broken sanitary line to EPA, please report this information to your local municipality operating the sanitary line so that they can repair the line. Most sanitary sewer overflows happen during rain events resulting from the rain improperly infiltrating into the sanitary lines causing them to overflow.

Any unknown pipe discharging into a Waters of the U.S. that appears to be unpermitted (e.g. can't identify an owner/operator that can confirm its NPDES permitting status) and impacting the receiving water.

Storm Water discharges from industrial activities such as construction projects and heavy industry that are resulting in adverse impacts (e.g. sedimentation runoff, oil sheens, etc.).

Dumping or pouring pollutants into Waters of the U.S. such as observing someone dumping drums into a creek should be reported to EPA. This includes pouring used motor oil into a storm drain. Storm Sewer collection systems (e.g. storm drains in streets) are not treated and flow directly to Waters of the U.S. Any type of non-storm water connection into a storm sewer system should be reported to EPA. Connecting a sanitary sewer line into a storm sewer system is an example of an illicit connection that should be corrected immediately

"Waters of the US " is defined as:

Waters of the United States

40 CFR 122.2

For purposes of the Clean Water Act, "Waters of the United States" means:

(a) All waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide;

( All interstate waters, including interstate "wetlands";

© All other waters such as interstate lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, or natural ponds the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could affect interstate or foreign commerce including any such waters:

(1) Which are or could be used by interstate or foreign travelers for recreational or other purposes;

(2) From which fish or shellfish are or could be taken and sold in interstate or foreign commerce; or

(3) Which are used or could be used for industrial purposes by industries in interstate commerce;

(d) All impoundments of waters otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;

(e) Tributaries of waters identified in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this definition;

(f) The territorial sea; and

(g) Wetlands adjacent to waters (other than waters that are themselves wetlands) identified in paragraphs (a) through (f) of this definition.

Waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of CWA are not waters of the United States.

So this should indeed fall under their jurisdiction. ( at a minumum - motor oil) But I'm no lawyer

[chub minnow]

To strengthen your case, there would also be contaminants from batteries, coolant, transmission fluid etc. If there happens to be a refrigerator or a.c. unit there, the freon would be considered a contaminant as well I believe.

It sounds to me like people are dumping off of a road onto property that belongs to someone else. It is possible that the landowner would be willing to work with you to stop this. At the very least he might agree to a "No Dumping" sign. That might curtail it a bit. I would definitely try to develop a partnering relationship with the landowner before you go down the adversarial path. No one desires trash on their property, they often just don't have the resources to dispose of it properly.

[zander]

In college at Louisiana Tech I wanted to get out of my lease early because my truck kept getting broken into. It was a known problem at that apt complex since it was very close to Grambling State University, but of course the landlord didn't mention that when I signed the lease. The landlord stated that it would be fine to break my lease as long as I gave up my security deposit and paid rent until someone else moved in. Being a poor college student that really wasn't an option for me. Walking back in the woods behind the apt complex one day I found a dump site in a little bottom full of old fridges and stoves and dishwashers from the complex Took some pictures and went to talk to the landlord again. Asked again to be released from my lease without penalty, she declined. I then casually brought up the dump site I saw and how the removal costs to cart off the junk once being ordered to do so would certainly far outweigh the amount of my security deposit and loss of rent. She agreed to let us go. As soon as we were settled into our new place, I let the DEQ know anyway, and within two weeks they had trucks back there cleaning it up. Keep in mind this was LOUISIANA. Creator of the BAYOU DEGRADEABLE movement. I may have come in on the turnip truck, but I was driving it! If they care there I would think they would care anywhere else. Good luck with it!

EDIT- in relation to chub minnows comments, I wouldn't think it would be the freon they would worry about as much as the PCB's found in electrical components of these appliances. The freon is bad for the ozone but it floats up up and away. The PCB's would be absorbed by the soil or organisms.

[delta_queen]

I google earth

just got a VM from ADEQ.

GAME ON!

[Trav]

I hope that the squeaky wheel does get greased. Not to rain on your parade, but it still is what it is.

And it is still in Arkansas wich has one of the worst reputations in the nation on this criteria. Even a worse reputation in doing anything about it.

Of course, no worse than my reputation for being a pessimist.

Good luck to ya.