Dateline: February 26, 2009

County cracks down on illegal dumping

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Two Hedley men were working to clean up county roads this week after pleading guilty to charges of illegal dumping.

Charlie Jaramillo, age 68, and Robert Jaramillo, age 51, were charged with a Class A Misdemeanor after they dumped more than 200 tires in four places along County Road X last fall, according to the Donley County Sheriff’s Office and County Attorney Landon Lambert.

“We want people to know we are prosecuting for illegal dumping,” Lambert said. “This is a violation of the health and safety code, and it can get up to a felony level depending on the weight and volume of what is dumped.”

Officials say the Jaramillos were hired to clean up a property that had been repossessed last year and assured the owner that they had approval from a property owner to dispose of the tires. But the tires ended up along CR X and were discovered by County Commissioner Donnie Hall in September.

A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of the men on October 10, and their case was adjudicated this month in county court before Judge Jack Hall. County Attorney Landon Lambert said the men received 40 hours of community service each to be served picking up trash on county roads starting with CR X.

The Jaramillos started their service Tuesday morning under the supervision of county employees and the sheriff’s office.

Chief Deputy Randy Bond said illegal dumping on county roads is a problem that seems to be getting worse but said this case was not like any he had seen before.

“We’ve never had dumping of this magnitude before,” he said.

County employee Billy Holman was supervising the Jaramillos and said the county has to clean parts of CR X nearly every week.

“It’s really gotten worse since the city stopped allowing its residents to dump once a month for free,” Holman said.

Furniture and appliances seem to be the most common items dumped on the county road, but every day trash gets thrown out there also. As the Jaramillos worked Tuesday, among the trash was an empty Coors case and ice bag that was still half full of ice.