A new King County hotline makes reporting illegal dumpsites easier

Report illegal dumping at 206-296-SITE (7483) or toll free 866-431-7483

2005 Archived News

Illegal dumpsites can attract rats, can pollute our rivers and streams, and may contaminate wells if the dumpsite contains hazardous chemicals. If it's not cleaned up quickly, it can invite more illegal dumping.

To protect public health and the environment, King County just made reporting illegal dumpsites easier by creating a new central hotline and a Web site for reporting online.

"Because we rely on the public to help us identify illegal dumpsites, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to report the location," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "It also helps us get to the sites to investigate them as soon as possible so we don't have rodents, environmental contamination and other health and safety hazards."

People can now call one central hotline, 206-296-SITE (7483) or toll free 866-431-7483, or logon to http://www.metrokc.gov/dumping to report the dumpsites, eliminating confusion about where to report illegal dumping. The hotline is backed by a new, streamlined system that also eliminates duplication of effort by county departments. Through greater coordination between departments, the county is able to improve customer service without increasing staffing.

"We share the public's frustration with illegal dumping because many times the waste is dumped on public land," said Sims. "There is significant expense to taxpayers for this illegal activity that also harms human health and the environment."

The hotline is the first recommendation from the county's Illegal Dumping Task Force to be implemented. The task force was convened by Sims in March 2003 and charged with improving coordination and delivery of service to the public on illegal dumping issues. After reviewing how illegal dumping is reported and responded to, the task force issued four recommendations, all of which Sims approved.

Here are the recommendations:

• Create a centralized hotline for people to report illegal dumping and link it to an intranet database for agencies to coordinate their response.
• Increase emphasis on field investigators' safety.
• Make the county enforcement system more effective.
• Develop an illegal dumping prevention and education outreach program.
  

The Illegal Dumping Task Force is part of Sims' ongoing effort to make King County government more efficient and effective. King County departments that collaborated on the recommendations are: Development and Environmental Services, Natural Resources and Parks, Transportation, Public Health, the Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the Sheriff's Office.