Report Illegal Dumping With Ease on Council’s Website

Mount Isa residents are being reminded that they can report cases of illegal dumping with ease through Council’s website or the Snap Send Solve app, to help address the issue of rubbish discarded in local surroundings.

In the past couple of months, Council’s Environmental Health Officers have investigated nine cases of illegal dumping and littering in and around Mount Isa – four in June and five in May.

The cases in June were attended to and resolved, with more than 230 tonnes of rubbish cleaned up from areas including the R48 (Lake Moondarra) Reserve, riverbed and easements in the city, and sent to landfill.

In May, a person was issued with a Penalty Infringement Notice under the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act for a case of illegal dumping.

A contractor was engaged to clean up two of the hotspots in the local area and recovered more than 25 tonnes of waste from the sites, including 207 tyres, concrete rubble, furniture and 1000 litres of waste oil.

Councillor Paul Stretton, who looks after the Environmental Health portfolio, said these are huge amounts of rubbish and it’s vital that people report any instances of illegal dumping, to enable Council to investigate and take further action.

“It’s really disappointing to see this happening,” Cr Stretton said.

“Council has the power to undertake enforcement actions, including issuing infringement notices and compliance notices for the clean-up of the waste – and if someone fails to comply with a compliance notice, they may face further penalties.

“We have a form on our website, at www.mountisa.qld.gov.au/illegal-dumping, where people can quickly and easily report these instances to us, and I strongly encourage them to do so.

“Alternatively, they can use the Snap Send Solve app to take a photo and send it through to us with information that may assist us with our investigation or follow-up actions.

“It’s so important that people let us know about illegal dumping.

“It’s something that we as a Council are serious about reducing, because illegal dumping pollutes the local environment, affects the look and enjoyment of the area for others, and costs Council a significant amount of money to clean up.

“We are considering installing surveillance cameras in some of the illegal-dumping hotspots for continuous monitoring in the future, but the information we receive directly from locals is very helpful as well.”

For more information, visit www.mountisa.qld.gov.au/illegal-dumping or call Council’s Environmental Health department on 4747 3200.