It seems inevitable that there be an occasional foreign bag of trash in one of the many dumpsters at local businesses, schools, churches and more. But in Pryor, it’s getting out of hand, according to Pryor Police.

“Businesses and churches and such rent these dumpsters to be placed on their premises,” Sergeant Brent Crittenden said. “It’s becoming an issue about people dumping personal trash and scrap in these dumpsters.”

Bill Dinsmore, owner of Pryor Waste & Recycling (PWR), explained how the

illegal dumping affects every citizen.

“The most expensive thing about trash, when you’re figuring the costs, is disposal,” Dinsmore said. “It’s not so much the picking up of the trash, it’s disposing of it in a legal and proper way, according to the state.”

PWR operates a transfer station. There the garbage is sorted for transfer to various disposal options, such as recycling. The landfill garbage is taken to Tulsa where it is disposed of. This option, while necessary, is expensive and based on the amount deposited.

“The more trash I have to take to Tulsa, the more it costs,” Dinsmore said. “We try to do everything we can to reduce the

volume going to Tulsa. That keeps our cost down and that keeps our customer’s cost down.”

Crittenden said the police department has received several complaints from businesses regarding their on-site dumpsters.

“People are filling the dumpster up to the point that the businesses aren’t even able to use it because it’s full,” he said.

Dinsmore said he receives the unhappy phone calls as well. Some are from his customers who think PWR didn’t pick up the trash because their dumpster was full.

“We get a lot of people who have a tendency to blame us for not servicing their container,” he said. “That just isn’t the case.”

Crittenden said that most of the dumped trash appears to come from

outside the city limits.

“People are trying to avoid paying for rural trash pickup,” he said. Dinsmore agrees.

“There are a lot of

people in the rural areas that are trying to save money on their refuse bill. It saves them $25 or $30 a month, but it drives our cost higher,” he said.

With all of the excess trash, it becomes necessary to take more trash to Tulsa, a cost that has to be absorbed somewhere.

“Our customers should not have to pay for it and that’s where the cost will fall,” Dinsmore said. “It affects my bottom line. But THE bottom line is that it’s illegal.”

Crittenden said the

illegal dumping of trash “could be considered

a form of larceny of

services.”

And the offense will be prosecuted.

“I’ve discussed it with our prosecuting city attorney and he’s agreed that we will prosecute the offense,” Crittenden said.

The state defines the criteria as “the discovery of two or more items which have been dropped, dumped, deposited,

discarded, placed, or thrown at one location and which bear a common address in a form which tends to identify the latest owner of the items shall create a rebuttable

presumption that any competent person residing at such address committed the unlawful act.”

Oklahoma State Statute 21-1761.1 says that “any person who deliberately places, throws, drops, dumps deposits or discards any garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, refuse, debris

or other deleterious

substance on any public property or on any private property of another without consent of the property owner shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.”

If filed in district court, conviction includes a

punishment of a fine up to $5,000 or 30 days in the county jail.

With the prosecuting city attorney involved, the charges could be filed in municipal court. While the punishment may not be as severe, it is still a misdemeanor and subject to a stiff fine.

Crittenden said the city provides a municipal dump, which could be

utilized for disposal. Dinsmore has an

option as well.

“We take your household garbage at the transfer station at $10 a pickup truck load,” he said, adding that some rural residents bring a load of trash and drop it off at the station on their way

to Wal-Mart, which is nearby.

“That can still save them money on their trash bill and it keeps the dumpsters clean for their intended use,” Dinsmore said.

For more information on disposal and recycling options, or to inquire about renting a dumpster, contact Pryor Waste

and Recycling at (918) 825-0026.