State DEC officers don’t just focus on protecting wildlife, they’re also enforcing laws in your own backyard.

What You Need To Know

  • A DEC officer has seen a rise in illegal dumping in the city

  • Officials say it costs tens of thousands of dollars to clean up each year

  • A DEC officer says illegal dumpers are targeting poor neighborhoods and vacant properties

  • Dumping materials improperly could pose health risks for the community

“I’m checking to see if there is any radiological material in this mess here,” said Don Damrath, a DEC police officer.

Damrath has been investigating illegal dumping in Syracuse for 13 years.

“It could be a mix of construction and demolition debris, hazardous waste, hazardous materials, and it could be garbage,” said Damrath. “Another thing they love to dump is tires.”

Damrath teams up with a Syracuse officer to patrol, respond to complaints, and catch the culprits. He’s seen an increase in dumping these past few months and mainly blames shady contractors.

“They are trying to get out of paying the tipping fees or the fees they would pay to go to OCCRA [Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency] or the landfill,” said Damrath. “Some of it is just lazy.”

OCCRA staff says commercial customers are charged $55/ton to dispose of construction and debris and $95/ton for municipal waste. Residents pay up to $30 to drop off trash and additional fees, depending on the item.

But Damrath say they’re not just discarding materials in one wrong location. They’re targeting poor neighborhoods and vacant properties.

“It causes potential health risks,” said Damrath. “We don’t know what’s in these piles, where they came from. They could have hazardous materials in them. They could have lead in them, asbestos. Those materials can get to the ground water, they can get to the air, they could cause health problems for that community.”

Costing people their health and money.

City leaders say clean-up efforts cost tens of thousands of dollars a year between staff time and disposal fees — money that could be used by local programs. But, Damrath says offenders, eventually pay a price too.

If convicted, they could face fines ranging from 1,500 to 37,500 dollars per day. Officials say more than 100 people were arrested last year. They say more can be caught with the community’s help, encouraging people to call the police if they know anything.  

“We’re not only stopping the illegal dumping,” said Damrath. “But we’re very likely taking an actual criminal off the street, perhaps a violent criminal with a violent criminal past because those are often times the people that are doing this stuff.”

Damrath says it could take days or months to close a case. But he says he won’t stop until his hometown is a safer, cleaner community.