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Trash Dumping: call police or...?
#1

Does anyone have advice to offer--preferably based in actual local experience--as regards how best to respond when trash is being dumped on one's property in Puna?

Specifically, four big plastic Hefty trash bags filled to bursting with household garbage have appeared on the privately owned side of the line nearby a public road. They are far enough into the jungle that someone had to carry them in away from the road and drop the bags there, out of sight from the roadway. I have not disturbed the bags of trash, wondering if I should attempt to summon police and make a report or take other action.

What would be most effective?

What would be the path with aloha?

Given all the information archaeologists extract from ancient trash middens, I expect when the four fairly fresh bags of trash are opened it will be possible to know not only the dietary habits, personal hygiene practices, reading habits, junk mail flavor, and perhaps financial status of the person(s) to whom the trash belongs, but also their name(s) and address as well.

Since the bags of trash were dumped near the same point of access into the woods via which trespassers a year earlier felled an old ohia tree by chainsaw, limbed it, and then dragged the thick post portion out 20 feet or so to the road I am inclined to not have as much of a compassionately-tolerate-the-less-fortunate sense of humor about this trash dumping as I otherwise might. Made a real mess in the forest as well as thieving an old and quite beautiful tree. The tree poacher and trash dumper may be one and the same person or crew, returning, since many who engage in unsophisticated illegal activity are lazy and not very bright. Or, it could be a coincidence they both used the same spot for their dirty work.

The gate area about 200 feet away is posted with all sorts of admonishing signage (No Trespassing, Beware of Dog, No Dumping, etc) for the sake of pro forma legal coverage. Whomever did the dumping obviously knows it was wrong to have done so or s/he would not have made an effort to hide the bags of trash from view.

So, here in Puna, wanting to be a good neighbor, what would be recommended as the best course of action? These are the options which occur to mind so far:

-Call the police, make a formal report, and--if indeed they come to investigate--blast Alice's Restaurant on the truck's CD player for their amusement while they take 8x10 glossy photographs in evidence.

-Open up the trash bags myself, find the address of the trash-maker, take the bags back to him or her, and neatly return them while explaining in a friendly manner that "These four bags of trash must have somehow all bounced 20 feet out of the back of a vehicle headed to the dump and--astonishingly enough--all landed in the same place in the forest. I sure hope it does not happen again!"

-Perhaps not be so careful about the bags remaining intact when they are returned to the owner's home, with the unfortunate result they rupture all over the front porch.

-Document everything in the trash bags and then post it all to the web, with photos, no matter what the contents might be--from billing statements with name and address to decaying food containers to used condoms--all displayed in detail on its own dedicated site, inviting comments from the public at large as to that which might be inferred or deduced from these improperly discarded artifacts I now own by virtue of their having been abandoned on my property.

I probably would not really do either of the last two options (at least, not unless further provoked) but admit this has me a bit annoyed. Trashing beautiful spots in nature is down there with being unkind to children and animals, in my book, and I take a dim view of it all.

Suggestions?



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#2
Option 2 sounds good. Identify the owner.

Assume the best.

There have been a number of cases where a well meaning family has hired someone to haul trash for them and the hauler just takes the money and dumps the trash anywhere.

The homeowner may well be unaware.
Assume the best and ask questions.

Punaweb moderator
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#3
The pigs who did this have no concept of "aloha," so I suggest taking that bit of consideration out of your decision making process. At Neighborhood Watch we recommend reporting this to the police non-emergency line at 935-3311, as per our Community Police Officer's advice. Give your name, phone number, and the location. Ask them if they intend to send someone out, and also ask if they will help you track down the miscreant based on the contents of the rubbish. Request a follow-up call.

We know of several instances where it was possible to identify dumpers because the idiots put some mail in the garbage. In one case an angry mother turned up in 15 minutes with her severely embarrassed and soon-to-be grounded son. She not only made him clean up his mess, but some other stuff that had already been there a long time. In another instance, the people claimed to have no idea how the trash may have gotten there. The police response, if any, will likely depend on who gets the call and what level of other police business is pending at the time.

I don't recommend returning the trash to the owner/dumper. You could get nailed for trespassing or who knows what if a confrontation occurs. There is a very good chance that these are NOT nice people. Edited to add: Also, with so little home mail delivery in Puna, it somewhat unlikely that you will get a useable address (you might, though.)

Let me know what happens, please,
Jerry

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#4
Based on past clean-ups, contact our Community police officer... this is a part of their job.

When we first moved here, we were involved in a Sierra club lava tube clean-up in Oakala (OK, Hamakua, not Puna...) and the local community officer was involved, any and all identifying info was looked for & would be followed up on (surprisingly a valid credit card was found, in a waste bags of other mail to the cardholder....The officer was able to utilize this to ID the dumper & the credit card was charged with the clean-up
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#5
Sounds like your question is well answered, just want to give you major points for using midden ...
You really might like the Wake, Steven. One of its central motifs is the subversive letter found (tis thought) by the hen scratching in the midden. One metaphor for the book is an archaeological mound, the litter/letter of the psyche.

Back to business, I'd be pissed if I found it on my land, but I would only open it if the cops refused to help -- and I do think they would help. I wouldn't open it because of the grossness factor. I don't see how the dumpers could have any expectation of privacy, do you.

Confronting people doesn't work well here. If you can have a nice talk, fences can be mended, but how do you have a nice talk unless it so happens that there's someone in the mix, like a parent, who agrees that what they did sucked. If they think it was acceptable to do that, you really don't have common ground, do you?
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#6
Steven,

I too would call police. We had a guy haul off job site trash. (Paid him to do it and gas money for trip to Hilo). He dumped it down street. We would have never known but I had cleaned out my car while he was collecting trash up - and there was an envelope with my name on it in there.)

We went down and met police at place trash was dumped - got it all cleaned up and fired the guy that was supposed to be hauling it.

If they had not called me, never would have known.
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#7
Call the cops and THEN listen to Alice's Restaurant.

Carrie

http://www.sapphiresoap.etsy.com

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
Carrie Rojo

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future..." Galadriel LOTR
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#8
I sure hope this was not on our land. Could you ping me with the exact location?
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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#9
quote:
it was a typical case of American blinded justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it ...

(and one of my favorite lines)
"Kid, whad'ya get?" ...
"I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage."
During my more cynical moments, I like to quote that line ... [B)]

Cat ...
quote:
and there was an envelope with my name on it in there
wow, you actually had an opening to say ""Yes, sir, Officer, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope
under that garbage." [:p]
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#10
Did you know that Officer Obie was the model for Norman Rockwell's painting, "The Runaway?" I didn't until I went trolling for Kathy's quote and reread the entire lyrics... Great song, BTW. Then there was this link to a site about Officer Obie. Say, Kathy, if you get that Wake group going anytime soon, lemme know! Aloha..... (you can get anything you want............)
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