Illegal dump sites still a problem in C.O.

A Redmond man is upset about illegal dumping near his neighborhood in northeast Redmond, just a few miles away from the transfer station.

At the site, Levi, who did not want us to use his last name, said Thursday he walks the area often and frequently finds newly discarded garbage piles.

Levi said he finds numerous bags of household garbage, dental prescriptions, phone bills, credit card statements and a few larger items, plus a whole lot of tires.

“We found a car — we found a Ford Mustang flipped over, it happened to be on fire the day we went out there,” Levi said. “The pickup bed liner (that) was out there looked like they had a mattress in it on the ground with the pickup while they burned the car.”

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office has been investigating the area dumping, but a spokesman said there has not been enough evidence found to charge anyone.

“Illegal dumping is unfortunately a problem in some of our rural areas in Deschutes County,” sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey said.

“Deputies can increase patrol and keep an extra lookout, but we do rely on the community members to come forward and share with us where these sites occur,” he added. “We do actively investigate dump sites when we can in an effort to identify who dumped the property, the trash there.”

The illegal dump site is located on Bureau Land Management property. Agency spokeswoman Lisa Clark said it’s a common issue they come across. In the last year or so, they’ve found 30 abandoned cars in the area.

Clark asked that if you come across illegal dumping on BLM land, please let them know. Make sure to provide as many details as you can on the location and they’ll investigate.

The agency’s Prineville District can be reached at 541-416-6700.