LITTER: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIRT ROADS WITH OR WITHOUT DWELLINGS
Christopher W. Taylor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile,
AL 36688. E-mail: cwt1001@jagmail.southalabama.edu.
In this paper I find differences between illegal trash dumping on dirt roads with dwellings
compared to dirt roads without dwellings. I researched all dirt roads in the Rabbit Creek area by
using Google Earth. I then qualified each road into two categories. First I measured the length
of the road, then I researched the number of dwellings which can only be accessed by that road.
After this information was compiled the number of dwellings was divided by the length of the
road in miles to give an average number of dewllings per mile for each dirt road. The roads were
then separated into two categories; 1) dirt roads with less than three dwellings per mile, 2) dirt
roads with three or more dwellings per mile. I compiled both lists of roads and randomly picked
two roads out of each category and visited each to view the trash or litter. For the purposes of
this project I classified illegal dumping as a single piece of debris weighing at least five pounds
or a pile of debris measuring one cubic yard or more. These roads were then inspected and I
concluded that the dirt roads with three or less dwellings on them had a significantly larger
amount of illegal dumping than dirt roads with three or more dwellings.
Keywords: Illegal dumping, dirt road, litter
Introduction:
Littering and illegal trash dumping has become a major issue not only in the Dog River
Watershed but all over the country. Illegal dumping of hazardous and non hazardous materials is
now far too common. In a recent article on landlinemag.com, Greg Grisalono reported that
Black Hills Trucking Inc. based out of Wyoming was facing a fine of $1 million dollars and one
of their drivers was going to be criminally charged for an illegal dumping incident. This
company hauls saltwater and other liquid drilling waste from the drill rigs to an accepted dump
site. Apparently the driver with his company's knowledge was travelling through a rural area
gravel road with his valves purposely open in order to discharge the truck's waste on a regular
basis. Luckily for the county in which this was taking place, an inspector with the Department of
Mineral Resources witnessed one of these incidents and immediately stopped it (Grisolano,
2014).
My research is not focused on the obvious hazardous waste illegal dumping from
businesses but more on the average pickup truck you see driving down the road with various
amounts of garbage and debris in the bed of the truck. Unfortunately, it is naive to think that
everyone with a pickup truck full of garbage is going to dispose of it legally. This research is
also not focused inside the city limits where it is a common practice to pile trash and debris by
roadsides for a tax subsidized trash pickup. Instead it is focused on unpaved roads outside the
city limits where there is no organized trash pickup system in place. These locations are usually
remote so that these criminals can easily dump their goods without suspicion. The illegally
dumped material can consist of anything from a simple piece of trash to larger materials such as
household garbage, typical lawn and garden debris, furniture, vehicles and in some cases
extremely hazardous materials. The real problem arises after the first dumping of trash has taken
place, the location then practically becomes a breeding ground for others with wastes they would
like to dispose of (U.S. Dept. of Interior BLM, 2009). Dirt roads have become a favorite place
for these illegal dumpers, especially dirt roads with little to no dwellings on them. Depending on
how you look at it, these roads are literally too good or bad to pass up.
Many people don't think twice about littering. How many times have you seen someone
throw a cigarette out of a vehicle, or perhaps even done it yourself. It seems insignificant at the
time but people need to see the bigger picture when it comes to any kind of litter. Any type of
toxin for instance a small amount of used motor oil can be deadly. Animals suffer everyday
from large pieces of litter such as getting tangled in it or ingesting it, but small amounts can be
just as dangerous. Plant life can also suffer at the hands of litter. Litter can manipulate both
physical growth and chemical makeup of plant life (Amatangelo, 2008). In the example of the
small amount of motor oil, it can enter a watershed in drops but can be concentrated by
biomagnifications. This basically means the toxin once consumed by the smallest of organisms
will be magnified ten times per each step of the food chain (Kilgore, 1999). By the time a fish is
eaten by a human the levels of toxins originally released by the small drop of oil could be very
hazardous to their health.
By driving along some of these dirt roads, I noticed a glaring problem in the Dog River
Watershed. The dirt portion of Rabbit Creek Dr. in Theodore had become an illegal dumping
ground (Figure 1). This portion of road was no more than 100 yards from a tributary that fed
into Rabbit Creek which ultimately flows into Dog River. It also only has 1 house near it which
isn't visible from the road but can be accessed by it. By looking at Google Earth you can clearly
see this same house is also accessed from another road to its east. This road was the inspiration
for the idea of this project. I decided to find out if there was a difference in the amount of
illegally dumped items on an unpaved road that had dwellings versus an unpaved road that had
little to no dwellings.
Figure 1: Illegal dumping on Rabbit Creek Dr.
According to the book Reducing Litter on Roadsides by Gerry John Forbes, there is a
jurisdiction in California that has distinguished littering into two forms. The forms are normal
littering which carries the usual fine and what California considers to be criminal littering. To
create a charge which falls into the criminal littering category, the state had to set up some
parameters. The parameter is anything that is illegally dumped that weighs more than five
pounds shows premeditation and will be hit with a steeper fine (Forbes, 2009).
Research Question:
Is there a greater or lesser amount of litter and illegal dumping on dirt roads with
dwellings than dirt roads with few to no dwellings?
Methods:
I researched unpaved roads in the Rabbit Creek area by using ArcMap and Google Earth.
I downloaded various GIS layers from the City of Mobile website including Roads and Water
bodies. By utilizing ArcMap I created a center point between Rattlesnake Bayou and Rabbit
Creek. As seen in Figure 2, I created a buffer zone around the center point for two miles. From
there I clipped all roads inside the two mile buffer zone in order to limit my study area.
Figure 2: 2 Mile buffer zone around Rabbit Creek
Neal Howard, a supervisor at Mobile County Road and Bridge loaned me a book called
County Maintained Road Inventory Report. I was able to use this book which gave road names
and the length in feet of each road that was paved and/or unpaved. I compared this list to the
clipped roads inside the buffer zone and was able to separate them into two categories; paved
roads and unpaved roads in the zone. I also verified this information visually by using Google
Earth. After compiling this information I then measured all unpaved roads with the measuring
tool on ArcMap and counted the number of dwellings which can only be accessed by that road
using Google Earth. Then I divided the number of dwellings by the length of the road in miles
to give an average number of dwellings per mile for each unpaved road. I separated the roads
into two categories; 1) dirt roads with less than three dwellings per mile, 2)dirt roads with three
or more dwellings per mile. I chose two roads from each category to inspect the amount of
illegally dumped materials.
For the purposes of this project I classified illegal dumping as a single piece of debris
weighing at least five pounds or a pile of debris measuring 1 cubic yard or more. I visited each
road and recorded the actual amount of debris in units and calculated the amount of units it
would be per mile. All four roads chosen were less than one mile so the entire length of road
was inspected. A map made through ArcMap (Figure 3) shows all four locations. I created a
table and bar graph to show any differences between the two roads with dwellings and the two
roads without dwellings.
Figure 3: Roads chosen for inspection highlighted
Results:
My research of the buffer zone shows a total of 220 roads inside the zone. The number
of paved roads were 209 which left 11 unpaved roads in the zone for me to choose from. Table 1
shows all eleven roads along with the length and number of dwellings. I also calculated the
average number of dwellings per mile and it is shown in that order in the table.
ROAD NAME MILES Kooiman Side Rd Old Rangeline Side Rd Rabbit Creek Dr S Todd Acres Side Rd Todd Acres Dr Jackson Ln Bowden Cir Hobart Rd Shipyard Rd Juniper Ave Powell Ln 0.31 1.01 1.14 0.15 2.75 0.53 0.10 0.10 0.57 0.12 0.29 NUMBER OF DWELLINGS DWELLINGS PER/MILE 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 1 6 2 9 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.45 9.43 10.00 10.00 10.53 16.67 31.03 Table 1: List of unpaved roads dwellings per/mile
As you can see there were a total of five unpaved roads meeting the criteria of less than three
dwellings per mile, while there were six unpaved roads in the zone with an average of three or
more dwellings per mile. The two roads chosen to inspect out of the greater than three dwellings
were Shipyard Rd. and Powell Ln. The two roads from the less than three dwellings were Todd
Acres Side Rd. and Kooiman Side Rd. I recorded the actual amount of debris which fell into my
definition of illegal dumping for each road and calculated the amount it would be if the road was
one mile long. The results are shown in Table 2.
Length in Miles Dwellings Per/Mile Actual Units of Debris Units of Debris Per/Mile Todd Acres Side Rd 0.15 0.00 53 353.33 Kooiman Side Rd 0.31 0.00 86 277.42 Shipyard Rd N 0.57 10.53 2 3.51 Powell Ln 0.29 31.03 0 0.00 Name of Road Table 2: Amount of debris per/mile for two roads from each category
The table indicate that it looks like the number of dwellings, or lack thereof, has a drastic
effect on the amount of debris illegally dumped on unpaved roads. You can also see the
difference in the pictures taken from each location which are labeled Figure 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d.
Figure 4a: Powell Ln.
Figure 4b: Shipyard Rd.
Figure 4c: Todd Acres Side Rd.
Figure 4d: Kooiman Side Rd.
Conclusion:
As mentioned earlier the inspiration for this project was born when travelling down
Rabbit Creek Dr. and seeing the massive amount of debris less than 100 yards from a tributary
leading to Rabbit Creek and ultimately Dog River. I wanted to prove that if these type of roads
did not have people living on them, then the county should close them in order to stop the illegal
dumping that occurs there. Looking back at the Figure 1 photo you can clearly see a couch
among the debris pictured on Rabbit Creek Dr. By coincidence I ventured back to this road
while researching the other four roads in order to take a better picture of the couch and others
just to find that not only was the road now closed and blockaded (Figure 5) but the entire length
of the road had been cleaned up with no debris to be found.
Figure 5: Rabbit Creek Dr. After
I am not naive enough to think that all illegal dumping can be stopped in the Dog River
Watershed, however I think more steps can be taken to close down roads with no dwellings on
them just like Rabbit Creek Dr. By doing this it would make it harder for people who want to
dump their debris illegally because the more secluded places would be taken away.
References:
Amatangelo, K.L., Dukes, J.S. & Field, C.B. 2008. Responses of a California annual grassland to
litter manipulation. Journal of Vegetation Science 19: 605–612.
Forbes, G. J. (2009). Reducing Litter on Roadsides. Washington, D.C.: National Cooperative
Highway Research Program. Grisolano, G. (2014, April 16). Wyoming trucking company faces $1 million fine for alleged
illegal dumping. Land Line Magazine. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from
http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=26879#.U1ByS_ldUxA
Kilgore, M. (1999) Litter and Pollution. Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Retrieved
from http://www.chintiminiwildlife.org/Education/LivingWithWild/Litter.htm
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. (2009). Solid waste & illegal
dumps. Retrieved from website:
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/hazardous_materials0/solid_waste___illegal.ht
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