BLM: Trash, TVs Illegally Dumped On Public Land
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - Volunteers cleaning up a shooting range on federal land in western Colorado this spring found 3,500 pounds of trash, three televisions, two propane cylinders and a stop sign illegally dumped there.
The Bureau of Land Management is asking the public for help finding the culprits. Offenders face fines, plus cleanup costs.
Tom Alvarez of the BLM's Grand Junction office says investigators have tracked some perpetrators through clues left behind in the trash. He says the office spends thousands of dollars each year cleaning up trash and hazardous material illegally dumped on public lands.
Alvarez says last year, his office collected more than 18 tons of illegally dumped trash including appliances, animal carcasses and vehicles, even though there are scrap metal dealers in Mesa County who buy old cars.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
