2 SC environmental organizations partnering against illegal dumping in waterways
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Two South Carolina environmental organizations are working together to crack down on illegal dumping in our state.
Volunteers with “Adopt-A-Stream” were already putting boots on the ground to monitor and keep local waterways clean, but the waste has become too much for the volunteers to handle and they need more help.
PalmettoPride is stepping in to help and get those illegal dumping sites reported to law enforcement. They are a nonprofit created by the state legislature, whose goal is to prevent and eradicate litter in South Carolina.
The non-profit is working together with South Carolina’s Adopt-A-Stream, which is run by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Clemson University’s Center for Watershed Excellence to monitor local waterways and alert authorities of areas where pollution is higher.
The goal is to bolster the removal of remnants of illegal dumping and litter from the state’s streams, rivers, and creeks and document where it’s happening.
They also want to get local authorities more involved in knowing where common illegal dumping areas are and provide tools like cameras and signage to both deter people from dumping their trash and help police catch those who do.
“It’s easier for law enforcement to track illegal dumpsites because we can put cameras up and we can have other ways that we can, you know if we catch somebody on camera, you can put that on social media or the news and oftentimes we get people who say, ‘Hey I know that vehicle.’ And that’s happened a good bit,” PalmettoPride Executive Director Sarah Lyles said.
Lyles says that if you are caught for illegal dumping, you could face thousands of dollars in fines and in some cases, jail time. She says enforcing these laws can deter people from littering.
“It’s going to benefit Adopt-A-Stream but also PalmettoPride so that we can track where these illegal dumpsites are,” Lyles said. “Once we can track them and we have that data, we can have a better idea of where we need to send law enforcement out, where we need to work with local governments on tackling these areas where people seem to go to take their trash.”
If you want to report areas with lots of trash, you can call PalmettoPride’s Litter Busters Hotline at 1-877-7-LITTER or visit https://www.palmettopride.org/litterbugbuster/.
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