Private contractors are suspected of illegally dumping debris in Yancey County to avoid paying dump fees at the landfill. Yancey County Planner Chris Sigmon said this week, public warnings are going out courtesy of the Yancey County Sheriff’s Facebook page.
Sigmon said the county has sites still open for its contract partner to finish private debris pick-ups through April. However, privately hired contractors aren’t allowed to dump at those sites and must go to the county transfer station and pay a fee to drop debris.
Sheriff Shane Hilliard on Facebook stated that illegal dumping is criminal and there could be prosecutions.
Sigmon said there are at least five areas where people are illegally dumping more than two truckloads of debris a day.
The sites include the Cane River Park ballfield site, where SDR, the county’s contractor, works, as well as a site along Highway 80 South that has a sign that clearly states it’s for SDR only.
Other sites where people continue to dump illegally, Sigmon said, include Highway 19 North, Toe River Road near the North Toe River, and Morningstar Road.
“The fact contractors have to pay to go to the county landfill, we think that’s driving a lot of the illegal dumping. We can tell by the way the materials are cut, things of that nature, some of this is contractor-driven,” Sigmon said.
Sigmon said the county is seeing tons of debris illegally dropped off at these sites. However, Sigmon said the county will give people the opportunity to do the right thing and make sure the contractors they might hire are abiding by the laws to go to the transfer station. If not, the next step will include surveillance.
