Illegal Burning and Dumping
The Addison County Solid Waste Management District Board adopted its “Illegal Burning & Disposal Ordinance” on March 16, 1995. Click here to view the ordinance.
The Ordinance prohibits:
- burning or burying trash;
- putting trash in a dumpster without the owner's explicit agreement; littering or leaving trash in an unauthorized place;
- disposing of recyclables or hazardous waste with trash.
How to Report a Burning or Dumping Incident
Call the Addison County Sheriff's Department at 388 - 2981, or the District Office at 388-2333. Middlebury residents should call the Middlebury Police Department at 388 - 3191. In a health or fire emergency, call 911. Complaints may be made anonymously. A sheriff's deputy will investigate the complaint, and report back to you if you leave your name. The first visit by the deputy usually results in a warning. The deputy will educate the offender about the law, and work with him or her to clean up a dump site, or to arrange for other ways of disposing of trash. If the offender refuses to cooperate, or repeats the activity, the following schedule of fines is imposed:
Fine Waiver First violation $100 $35 Second violation $150 $75 Third violation $250 $150 Fourth and subsequent violations $500 $400 Each day that a violation continues is considered a separate offense. Waiver fees apply in instances where violations are paid without being contested in court. More serious violations are reported to the State Agency of Natural Resources for enforcement.
Burning trash causes pollution. The fire in a burn barrel or pile is not hot enough to destroy toxic substances released by burning materials. Furthermore, there are no safeguards to capture toxins in the smoke, released in concentrated form at ground level where they are easily inhaled. Smoke from burn barrels affects the health of some people immediately, causing eye irritation, asthma, or restricted breathing. Children are most at risk, since they breathe more quickly than adults and absorb up to six times as much contamination by breathing the same air. Chronic diseases like emphysema can develop over time with low exposure to air contaminants.
No type of combustion is entirely safe. Even burning “clean” and legal materials such as untreated wood and yard waste can cause air pollution. But most of today’s trash is far from clean. Even burning paper creates problems. Often chemicals are used to pulp the trees to make the paper, and many papers have been bleached with chlorine, which is released when burned. Dyes and inks used in paper can also create pollution, as can adhesives or thin layers of plastic that you didn’t even realize were there (such as in a feed bag).
Addison County Solid Waste Management District
1223 Route 7 South
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 388-2333
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