Police keep a camera eye on illegal trash dumping

Illegal dumping of trash, appliances and whatever else people don’t want to take to the waste transfer station has long been a problem in town.

“It’s not just a Wrangell issue,” Police Chief Tom Radke said last week. Radke, who spent almost 26 years in law enforcement in Minnesota before taking the Wrangell job in 2020, said he has seen it many times before.

But just because it’s commonplace doesn’t mean it’s legal — it’s not. Illegal dumping of garbage in Wrangell is subject to a $150 fine.

“It’s one of those issues we’re trying to get ahead of,” the chief said. In addition to educating the public about the law, the police department also puts up cameras from time to time along the Spur Road (Ishiyama Drive), including near the gun range, to keep a lookout for violators.

With the borough assembly vote last month to impose the same $150 fine on people using harbor dumpsters for illegal trash, Radke anticipates an increase in residents stashing their trash out the Spur Road.

“That Spur Road has always been a stepchild” that gets dumped on, he said.

The harbor dumpsters are restricted to routine garbage from boat stall renters — no construction material, hazardous waste or trash from their home ashore.

Worse than junk dumped on the side of the road or near the gun range parking lot are the cases where people toss their trash and then take target practice, as happened with a television dumped near the gun range, Radke said. “They shoot it and just leave it there, like the tooth fairy is going to pick it up,” he added.

“We would appreciate it if you didn’t do these things.”

The camera footage is available to police if they need to track down the rightful owners of garbage found where it doesn’t belong.

The minimum charge to dump trash at the borough’s waste transfer station is $20, a washer or dryer costs $40, refrigerators and freezers are $80 each, and tires are $4 each, according to the fee schedule on the borough website.