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Please do your part to protect the natural beauty of Pacific County by helping to stop littering and illegal dumping.

Report illegal dumping to (360) 875-9356 or (360) 642-9356.

Youth Litter Pick-Up Program

Littering Affects Everyone

Each year, Community Development hires 5 students ages 14-18 along with an adult crew leader for local street beautification. The litter crew uses equipment supplied by the county to clean roadsides and illegal dump sites on state and county roads. It is a Department of Ecology grant-funded program that gives us the opportunity to help Pacific County minimize the existence of trash along our roadways.

According to the Department of Ecology website, Washington spends approximately 4 million dollars a year to rid the state highways of 16 million pounds of litter, but estimate that only 25-35% of the trash gets picked up. An estimated 25% of citizens litter regularly, while about 50% litter occasionally.

What can you do to help?

*Keep a litter bag or trash container in your vehicle (available in both Long Beach & South Bend offices)

*Report offenders on the litter hotline (1-866-LITTER-1)

*If you find garbage dumped illegally, call Pacific County Department of Community Development (642-9382 in Long Beach or 875-9356 in South Bend)

You may think that throwing one empty bottle or can out the window doesn't hurt anyone, but it adds up. The Pacific County Environmental Health Department, in conjunction with the Department of Ecology and the Department of Transportation, works hard to keep up with all the littering. During 2000, we removed 180,000 pounds of solid waste from along the roadside and also from publicly accessible areas of the County. We cleaned up over 253 illegal dumpsites and 1,107 miles of County road. And who pays for the clean-up? Taxpayers. Throwing your trash in a garbage can instead of along the road or out in the woods saves everyone money. Think about what you are doing and do what is best for everyone. Would you throw money away or display garbage on your lawn or in your home?

Pacific County Board of Health Ordinance No. 2 Section 2.13, 2.15, & 3.1 prohibit littering and unauthorized dumping.

Section 2.15 defines Unauthorized Dumping as "disposing of anything defined as 'solid waste', by Washington law or County ordinance in any location with a valid permit."

Section 3.1states that "no person shall thrown or dispose of litter in any public place, in any County waters, or on any private property owned by him unless it is in a garbage receptacle or in any area specially designated for disposal."

Washington State law also prohibits littering and illegal dumping.

Chapter 70.93 RCW, the Waste Reduction, recycling, and Model Litter Control Act, prohibits the acts of littering and illegal dumping. During the 2000 legislative session, SSB 6194 was passed, amending the law by changing enforcement levels associated with litter and illegal dump violations.

CRACKING DOWN ON LITTER

County Penalties

State Penalties

A Notice of Violation will be sent to violators giving a deadline date by which the site must be cleaned up. If the unauthorized dumper fails to cleanup dump site by the deadline date, a fine of $494 per day may be assessed. State penalties may also be applied.

Violation	Level	Maximum Penalty
Litter > 1 cubic foot but < 1 cubic yard in an unincorporated area	Misdemeanor	$1,000 fine, up to 90 days in jail, or both
Litter >+ 1 cubic yard in an unincorporated area	Gross Misdemeanor	$5,000, up to 1 year in jail, or both
Abandon a junk vehicle in an incorporated area	Class 1 Civil Infraction	$500
Abandon a junk vehicle in an unincorporated area	Gross Misdemeanor	$5,000, up to 1 year in jail, or both

Long Beach		South Bend
318 N. Second Street		P.O. Box 68
Long Beach, WA 98631		1216 W. Robert Bush Drive
(360) 642-9382		South Bend, WA 98586
(360) 642-9387 FAX		(360) 875-9356
		(360) 875-9304 FAX