In doing this, they are able to underbid competing contractors who dispose of their waste legally. For those contractors who dispose of their waste illegally, however, if they are caught, their costs of proper disposal would actually be more than had they initially disposed of their waste properly due to possible administrative penalties, added labor and machinery clean-up costs, and lost time and money spent on remediating a site rather than working on another job. We are losing the opportunity for the State and counties to utilize your tax dollars in a more beneficial manner. Cleanup of dumpsites can amount to millions of dollars annually. Their efforts could be better spent on more proactive, educational, planning, and technical assistance programs.
Some local governments have the ability to prosecute violators criminally.
Some counties also have the ability to use prima facie evidence when investigating illegal dumpsites and prosecuting violators. If a party is damaged due to violation, violator is required to pay injured party 3 times the actual damages. DENR is currently working with local governments to develop more strict and enforceable illegal dumping prevention and enforcement programs to prohibit and deter illegal dumping. It poses both human health and environmental concerns and results in a constraint on the Sections' resources. Therefore, the Solid Waste Section has devoted staff efforts to assessing the state of the illegal dumping problem in North Carolina and researching potential solutions and programs to address the problem.