LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After the March 31 tornado, one of the unexpected downfalls to the devastating event was people illegally dumping.
Some Little Rock homeowners said it's been happening for far longer than that. In fact, they contacted us to see what we could do, especially if the dumping lands on their private property.
A person who lives near Asher has been experiencing people illegally dumping around her home. The problem is that the City of Little Rock said there is not much they can do about dumping on private property, and she's worried she will be cited.
So we found out what is being done to stop the problem.
"Unfortunately, once it goes on private property and we can't identify who did the illegal dumping, we have to work with the property owner to get it cleaned up," Housing and Neighborhood Programs Assistant Director Brian Contino said. "It's their responsibility to clean up their property."
Contino said illegal dumping calls can fluctuate, and offenders don't realize how it can negatively affect the neighborhoods.
"You'll get companies and people just dumping things they no longer want to hold onto," Contino said. "They don't know how to recycle it."
The city will use city cameras to identify culprits or find a precious owner of the items dumped, but if those items are on private property, they won't touch them.
Little Rock officials recommend having cameras around your house to help identify dumpers or having motion-activated flood lights to deter them."
The city said there are companies that can come remove dumped items from your property, including the city's solid waste division, which can remove certain items for free.
If the dumping happens on your property, will code enforcement write citations against you? The city said not as long as you're working with them to address the problem.
"As long as she is talking to the code enforcement officer [and] explaining the situation, we are going to work with her," Contino said. "She doesn't incur a penalty on that one."
If you are caught illegally dumping, you can be cited for hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the severity of the situation.
If you see dumping in the city, you can report the issue on the city app. Code enforcement usually responds to and resolves a report in seven to ten days.