The California Highway Patrol is urging residents to avoid littering along San Mateo County highways, as authorities have seen an increase in illegal dumping in the past few months.
Throughout San Mateo County highways, motorists may have noticed numerous piles of wood chips, gardening material and sometimes building material along the freeway, and near on-ramps and off-ramps, CHP officials said.
These piles were dumped there illegally by unknown parties and not by Caltrans.
Not only are these piles a danger to motorists by presenting a hazard to traffic, but also a danger to the environment and roadside vegetation, according to CHP officials.
The piles can contain bugs that can destroy roadside vegetation, possible hazardous materials and can also be a fire danger with the recent hot temperatures.
In addition, it can cost the state of California $300 to $700 in dumping fees alone for each of those piles.
The CHP is soliciting the public’s help in reporting anyone seen dumping any kind of material alongside California highways. Residents are asked to call 911 and provide the following information to the CHP dispatcher.
- Location
- Description of vehicle (including license plate if visible from a safe location).
- Description of the parties involved (ethnicity, type and color of clothing, etc.).
- Direction of travel (if the vehicle leaves the area).
- And what they observed.
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First point - each morning that I commute I see their trucks spewing trash. I was stuck by the side of 101 a few months ago - this stuff comes out of trucks not individuals' cars. The other thing about Recology is their semi-annual household cleanup. They make it such a pain in the ass. I needed to stand there and bicker with the guy because my patio umbrella wouldn't fit in a garbage back, because the bicycle frame wasn't bound with wire. And to make sure they don't' throw away my garbage cans! Their crews are pushed so thin that they can't stop and do a decent job. So I spend four hours cleaning my yard on the weekend and two hours waiting for their truck. The guys who actually showed up were ok. But yeah - I can see how some people would try using the proper channels and just give up and dump their stuff by the side of the road. Recology needs to revisit the days before garbage men were called sanitation engineers. When we had scavengers who picked up things and sorted through them to dispose. Right now we're forced to work for them to put our things in the right place.