Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Roosevelt County Road Department personnel spend time picking up tires that are illegally dumped along county roads.
Roosevelt County was recently awarded two grants to help pay for the problem they have with illegal dumping.
The New Mexico Clean and Beautiful grant applied for by both the city of Portales and the county, awarded through the New Mexico Tourism Department, consists of $500 for tipping fees and $3,500 for advertising to educate the public about the problem, said Carol Acosta-Flores, special projects coordinator for Roosevelt County.
"The City of Portales and Roosevelt County are thankful to the State of New Mexico for the award and ...We are dedicated to working together for this event and look forward to future collaborations that reduce illegal dumping, promote public awareness of the Convenience Center's purpose, and help keep our community clean and beautiful," said Susan Baysinger, public works project administrator for the city of Portales.
The county applied for a second grant called the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Fund (RAID) through the New Mexico Environmental Department, Acosta-Flores said in an interview on Monday. The state awarded the county $22,204 "mainly for scrap tire abatement."
"As part of this (Clean & Beautiful) grant award, tipping fees for all Roosevelt County residents (county-wide) will be waived on Dec. 7-8, 2022 from 12 pm to 4 pm," the county release states. "The Portales Convenience Center is located at 1230 N Avon at the corner of Kaywood and Avon Street, and will be accepting two pickup loads or one trailer load per household at no charge. Items accepted freely include household trash, mattresses, furniture and appliances without Freon. Items not accepted are tires, appliances that hold Freon coolant, shingles and no commercial dumping."
She said tires cannot be disposed of at the Portales Convenience Center, which is the city and county dump.
The county cleans up the illegal dumping sites and has to pay to send the tires to an authorized site, which could be as far away as Garden City, Kansas, Acosta-Flores said. The county is still researching its best alternative for this process.
The RAID grant will pay for labor, transportation and other expenses related to the disposal of the tires found at illegal dumping sites, she said. It also pays for advertising, including signage along roads that reads "Do not dump," for example.
"Illegal dumpsites can cause unhealthy environmental issues and major safety issues," stated Special Projects Coordinator Carol Acosta-Flores in the release. "County personnel within the Road Department and Sheriff's Office expend a lot of time and resources investigating and cleaning up these illegal dumpsites. The City's Convenience Center provides a central location for all residents to properly dispose of their trash items.
County Road Superintendent Ricky Lovato said illegal dumping "really puts a burden on the county road department. We have to send out a loader or backhoe, a pickup with a trailer and two men to pick everything up."
"It's a job no one wants to do but we do it just to keep the county looking better," Lovato said.
"The Roosevelt County Commissioners adopted a resolution prohibiting illegal dumping and authorizing a reward for information leading to the conviction of persons who illegally dump in the unincorporated areas of the county," the release states.
In 2020, a Clean & Beautiful grant awarded the county $14,000 to purchase a tandem trailer for cleaning up scrap tires dumped illegally, Acosta-Flories said.
"Roosevelt County is researching strategies to prevent illegal dumping, therefore to focus on making it difficult for dumpers to dump illegally and encouraging people to report illegal activities," Acosta-Flores said in an email. "We obviously have insufficient control mechanisms. We need to work on educating the public on the cause and effects of illegal dumpsites. Maybe higher penalties and enforced at a higher level. One of the problems is certain trash items that have to be transported outside this area."
She said environmental effects from illegal dumping include "spread of disease through mosquitos in setting water in scrap tires, (which) can cause West Nile diseases not only in humans but animals as well. Vermin like snakes, rats and skunks can nest in theses piles. The dumpsites can also increase the chances of wildfires. (Besides) the bad health effects, (they are) eyesores as well."
"We urge constituents to take advantage of these free days to bring your large trash items to the Portales City Convenience Center," as stated in the release. "If you have questions on items accepted, please contact the Convenience Center at 575-356-8664. For additional information or questions please contact Carol at the County Administrative Offices at 575-356-5307."
