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Jennifer Guggenberger, who owns the 250-acre Guggenberger Ranch in San Juan Bautista with her husband, is tired of illegal dumping on and around her property.
“It was always our understanding that Salinas Road is considered by the county to be a scenic road,” Guggenberger said.
“Unfortunately, due to the excessive dumping, the road is nothing scenic,” she said, visibly upset and taking a second to collect her thoughts.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors received a presentation on the county’s illegal dumping and litter abatement program during its Dec. 12 meeting. County staff recommended the board approve a camera program after funds are obtained from the state.
The program is waiting for $105,000 in state money from the Mattress Recycling Council, a program aimed at reducing illegal mattress dumping, and the CalRecycle Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program.
Last fall, Guggenberger and her farmhand collected over 100 tires and several car batteries that were lodged into the ground next to a creek on her property, she told the Dec. 12 meeting.
“It’s not just the eyesore that these dumps create for our county,” she said, “but the water, once it starts raining, comes through these dump sites into our creek, down to the two reservoirs below us and eventually into the Pajaro River.”
The water runoff travels to a frog pond next to Guggenberger’s property, which is the home of the endangered California red-legged frog as well as to the creek that Guggenberger’s cattle drink from.
“I’m so grateful for all that has been done up to this point,” she said. “However, we need your continued support and help to stop this. It’s just unbelievable how much dumping is happening on that road.”
The county took part in two cleanup initiatives earlier this year.
Staff collected over 30,000 pounds of solid waste, including 200 tires and 18 vehicles from the San Benito River from June to September, according to San Benito County Integrated Waste Management Illegal Dumping and Litter Abatement Coordinator Frankie Sanchez.
The second cleanup was on Salinas and San Juan Grade Road in August and September. For over six days, staff collected about 30,000 pounds of solid waste, including over 60 tires, 25 mattresses and 25 other bulky items, Sanchez said.
But the cleanups didn’t come without challenges.
“The access to some of these sites is pretty difficult due to the steep slopes and the loose soil,” Sanchez said. “The cleanup crew had to get very creative with how they removed some of this waste off the side of the hill.”
Sanchez described a pulley system where staff tied a rope around excavators which pulled the items from the steep hillsides.
Another challenge was encampments found in the riverbed, and staff didn’t know whether they were vacant or occupied, Sanchez said.
County Sheriff Eric Taylor, who attended the presentation, said the riverbed is vast and contains many encampments, including underground structures.
Staff also found that dumping continued after a cleanup.
“Almost immediately after the cleanups are completed, we start noticing dumping occurring again and so this just shows us a strong need for additional deterrence in the future to ensure that this doesn’t happen,” Sanchez said.
Program staff recommend assigning a sheriff’s deputy and a code enforcement officer to assist with monitoring dumping hot spots, write citations, collect data and conduct forensic investigations.
Taylor said these dedicated positions are needed to patrol illegal dump sites.
“It’s only through enforcement that we’re going to be able to deter these things from happening,” Taylor said.
Six speakers spoke to the board and shared their support for the county’s illegal dumping mitigation.
Christine Williams, who owns a 40-acre property on Salinas Road that neighbors Guggenberger, shared her concerns about illegal dumping on her property.
Williams and her husband first moved to the property in 2015 and since then have seen illegal dumping along Salinas Road all the way to Salinas, though recently it’s been worse, she said.
Along Salinas Road, queen-sized mattresses, dirty diapers, wooden pallets and motor oil containers can be found, Williams said.
Williams invited the county to mount cameras on her property in order to catch people illegally dumping, which she said happens mostly at night.
“Signs, we think, do nothing,” Williams said. “Cameras are the only answer. We think that apprehension and serious fines will send a message.”
“As the offended property owners, we cannot tolerate the damage it does to our property and our property values any longer,” she said.
A speaker on Zoom who identified himself as Andy said there was an illegal dumping ring. He claimed that organized groups were sending “truckloads of uninspected filth” into the county to dump garbage.
The supervisors voiced support for the camera program and new signage near dumping hot spots with a message that violators will be fined. They also spoke in support for more staff dedicated to patrolling dumping sites.
But it’s not so easy.
Supervisor Angela Curro asked how the county would fund and enforce the changes to mitigate illegal dumping.
“It’s moving to hear the public so distraught over this because it is a horrific issue in our community,” Curro said. “But we also have another horrific issue in our community and that’s revenue generation.”
Though the John Smith Landfill expansion project is not a “nice topic to discuss,” out-of-county funds for waste disposal could bring in the revenue to pay for a camera program or more deputies to patrol illegal dumping sites, Curro said.
Additionally, the county’s code enforcement department is facing a backlog of 280 cases.
Supervisor Dom Zanger said help is desperately needed in that department.
Report illegal dumping in the county here.
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