Abandoned waste is a serious problem for Denver and its citizens.  Sometimes it's just an old tire, but other times it’s motor oil, paints, or industrial chemicals. 

It’s expensive too. It costs Denver and its citizen tax payers over $20,000 a year to clean-up and safely dispose of all the illegally dumped and abandoned wastes reported or discovered in the course of conducting city business.  That’s one to two clean-ups per week at an average cost of $300.

And that’s just for the wastes reported or found!  Often the wastes not reported or found pose a greater risk to public health and the environment.  Waste chemicals hidden in dumpsters or poured out on the ground, road, alley, or down a storm drain risk injuring sanitation workers, kids and neighbors who work and play in the area, pets, vegetation, and aquatic life in our creeks, gulches and the South Platte River.

Abandoning waste and illegal dumping is also a crime.  Individuals found to have purposefully discarded chemical wastes illegally or in an irresponsible manner can be charged and convicted under one or more statutes, local, state and federal, depending upon the severity of the crime.  Unfortunately, its hard to identify with certainty the people responsible for these crimes - less than 1% of cases are successfully tried in court.

So who’s dumping and abandoning wastes in Denver?  Corporate giants?  Nope! 

From the type and quantity of wastes discovered, eye-witnesses reports, and cases prosecuted, it is individuals.  For the most part, it is home owners and small entrepreneurs who are discarding solid and liquid wastes, often chemical products (or “Household Hazardous Waste”) collected from their home or generated through their small business activity.

What does Environmental Quality do about this problem?  We clean it up!

In our mission to prevent disease and pollution, protect the people and environment of Denver, and promote the health of the community, Environmental Quality in partnership with other agencies responds to all reports of spills, abandoned wastes or illegal dumpings. 

Specifically, Environmental Quality:

• Directs inspectors to investigate reports of abandoned waste and illegal dumping;
• Tests and identifies unknown chemicals and wastes;
• Performs clean-up of spills and contaminated soil;
• Pays for and supervises commercial hazmat technicians to safely package and dispose of found wastes;
• Coordinates with the City Attorney, Fire Department and other authorities to investigate and identify perpetrators; and
• Provides testimony and support in prosecuted cases.

What you can do to help your neighborhood and your City:

 

1. * Be a steward of your neighborhood, your community, your world. 
2. * Realize there isn’t always a cost-free way to discard some of the many things we buy and use. 
3. * In these modern times, we need to accept that there are costs to both acquire stuff and costs to safely dispose of it.
4. * Be a witness.  Report illegal dumping and waste abandonment.  Call 311 or call Environmental Quality at (720-865-5452).

* Talk to your neighbors and let them know about the problem.

* Use the free Household Hazardous Waste collection service provided by Curbside Inc. and sponsored by

Denver Recycles, and let neighbors know about this resource (see the website link below).

* Use the free Large Item Pick-up (LIP) service provided by Denver Recycles.

* Take advantage of free or low cost waste collection services offered by local businesses.  Many autoparts retailers collect motor oil, antifreeze, car batteries, tires, etc.

 Examples of the types of materials accepted by Denver’s Household Hazardous Waste program:

• Auto batteries
• Automotive fluids and oils
• Cleaners and polishes
• Insecticides and poisons
• Fertilizer and Garden chemicals
• Gasoline, fuel, kerosene
• Paints, Solvents and thinners
• Moth balls
• Photography chemicals
• Pool chemicals
• Thermometers

Additional materials are listed on their website.  There may be a fee, or minimum or maximum disposal quantities to dispose of some waste items.  Call Curbside, Inc. in Denver at 1-800-449-7587.