WINNEMUCCA - RESPECT has organized a group of volunteers to create major "cleanup" in and around our community. The name of their organization is RESPECT. Their goals are to clean up our lands, prevent illegal dumping, create awareness/education, and essentially treat our land with respect by keeping it beautiful.
The following questions and answers were submitted by the organization.
What is illegal dumping?
The discarding of any household trash, bulky items, yard trimmings, medical waste, dead animals or hazardous materials in a place that is not permitted to dispose of these materials.
Many people don't realize that yard debris is considered illegal dumping.
It is a misdemeanor under Nevada Revised State Law, punishable by fines and jail time (Nevada Revised Statute 444.630).
Who dumps illegally?
•Commercial businesses
•Local residents
•Your neighbors?
Where does illegal
dumping happen?
Remote areas in the desert and mountains, quarries, gravel pits and mines, washes and other low-lying areas, public lands, tribal lands, roadsides and...your neighborhood?
Deserts and canyons are not the place to dispose of garbage of any kind. Illegal dumping is an ugly eyesore on our beautiful Nevada landscape.
Why do people do it?
•Not taking the time to drive to our designated landfill
•Not having RESPECT for themselves or others.
•They do not understand the harm that they are doing to people and the environment.
•People want to avoid paying for landfill fees, and may not realize that our local landfill is free for household dumping.
Some excuses:
•"There is already trash piled up there."
•"That's what everyone else does."
•"We had to get rid of this junk."
•"The landfill is not open."
Who enforces the laws?
Local county and city law enforcement officials, our district attorney's office, and courts as well as the Bureau of Land Management.
How do I report an
illegal dumping?
If you see dumping occurring on public lands, please do the following:
Do not engage the dumper in any way. Simply record the pertinent information and provide it to the appropriate authorities. Make note of: incident date, incident time, license plate number, vehicle description, incident location, violator's description, material dumped, other important details.
To report an illegal dumping in progress or if you have information, please call the Humboldt County Dispatch 623-6429 or the Secret Witness Hotline at 623-6969.
What can I do to help
•Put garbage where it belongs.
•Never knowingly litter or dump. Be sure to put any trash in bags, cans or dumpsters.
•Pick up loose trash when you see it.
•Use only approved landfill sites.
(Our local landfill is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For individual household dumping, it is free!)
•Tell others that littering and dumping are not acceptable.
•Participate in community cleanups.
Join RESPECT, along with the city of Winnemucca, Humboldt County, Northern Nevada Recreation Coalition and BLM, to unite together as a work force to clean up our lands and show respect for our big backyard.
RESPECT would like to see businesses, and organizations step up and "adopt" certain streets or areas for beautification.
RESPECT would like to thank those that participated in their previous cleanups. They were pleased with the participation. They gathered a tremendous amount of garbage and did their part to make the desert a little more beautiful and a lot cleaner than it previously was.
It is time for everyone to have RESPECT, work together and take on some form of responsibility regarding our community and our problem with garbage and illegal dumping.
To become involved or for more information on RESPECT, call, Lianne Iroz at 421-4548, Tami Vetter at 625-3033 or Paige Brooks at 304-0895.
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