Farm Bureau, Ag companies work to tackle illegal dumping in Monterey County

UPDATED 10/3/2018 5:00 p.m.: Illegal waste is threatening the health of residents and costing taxpayers thousands to clean in Monterey County.

Wednesday, those facing much of the impact met in Salinas to find a solution.

Alicia Cornonado with agricultural company Huntington Farms says people often throw trash on their fields. Leaving them no choice but to put the costly work in themselves to properly dump the garbage.

“We have to clean it because food safety does not allow us to have garbage in the fields,” Coronado says.

“[There was] a situation that was south of Salinas here several months ago that cost the land owner about $30,000 to clean up a mess that was dumped on their property overnight,” said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau.

That’s not the only issue, officials say thousands are invested each year to collect garbage people leave throughout the county. Money that comes from taxpayers.

“As a society we need to decide ‘Are we going to continue pouring more tax payer dollars into this or are we really going to head the problem off at the pass and understand what’s causing the problem and then work on solutions,'” Groot said.

At the Wednesday meeting between the Farm Bureau and local Ag companies, they worked to find those solutions.

One of them, better spreading the word that throwing away your trash legally isn’t difficult or costly.

“It does not cost to get rid of your mattress or your box spring, it does not cost to get rid of your refrigerator or your microwave if you do it legally,” Groot says.

If you’re caught illegally dumping garbage, you can face a fine between $250 to $1,000.

For more information on how and where you can dump your trash, head to the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority website HERE.

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Wednesday, those facing a majority of the impact met in Salinas to find a solution to this growing problem. Experts say trash is also impacting agricultural fields which can put people’s health at risk.

Alicia Coronado with agricultural company, Huntington Farms said people dump on their fields, leaving them no choice but to put the costly work in themselves to properly dump the trash.

“We have to clean it because food safety does not allow us to have garbage in the fields. For example, many of the refrigerators have chemicals or throw them away and all that can contaminate the product,” said Coronado.

If you’re caught illegally dumping garbage, you can face a fine that ranges from $250 to $1,000.

For more information on how and where you can dump your trash head to the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority website HERE.

KION’s Zach Fuentes will have more on how bad the issue is and what’s being done to solve it at 5 and 6 p.m.