It's not your typical road-and-bridge work, but it's making a ton of difference along our rural roads. A cooperative project between our Public Works Department, the Sheriff's Office and the Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) using prisoners and probationers to pick up, clean up and haul off more than 7,250 tons of trash and debris - including over 3,700 old tires -- from more than 1,500 illegal dumps and trash sites littering county roads and culverts in the past 18 months has been very successful.

Illegal dump sites are typically full of old tires, discarded computers, household trash, busted furniture, broken toys, motor oil - and even drug paraphernalia

In July 2008, Public Works first teamed up with the Collin County Sheriff's Convicted Offender Re-Entry Effort - or, S.C.O.R.E. -- to tap labor resources of the inmate work program, clearing brush and picking up dump sites. The effort, which is still going strong, saved more than $100,000 in labor costs, and cleared out more than 242,000 pounds of refuse.

Months later, Public Works joined forces with CSCD to get probationers assigned to community service to help haul another more than 42 tons of trash out of 279 dump sites in creek beds and along roadsides, saving at least $50,000 in labor costs.

These two programs combined have helped save thousands of taxpayer dollars and remove tons of trash, dead brush and debris that littered the rural landscape.

Another result of the clean-up program resulted in an investigation by the Collin County Fire Marshal, and led to two arrests for felony illegal dumping. Acting on some personal items that were found at an illegal dump site near County Road 364, investigators were able to trace the trash to a property owner who had hired someone to clean up a rental home and haul the trash to the landfill. 

Through the assistance of the County Sheriff's Office and the cooperation of the property owner, the trailers used by the suspects were tracked, resulting in the discovery of two dump sites south of Blue Ridge in November 2009.

In the process of tracking the trailer full of trash to the second dump site on the evening of Nov. 23, investigators caught the suspects in the act of illegally emptying the trailer.

The two suspects, who were brothers, both lived in McKinney. They were also undocumented aliens. The pair confessed to illegally dumping the trash, and one admitted to being responsible for a second illegal dump site discovered earlier that month.  The dump sites contained more than three tons of trash. 

These suspects have since been tried, sentenced and deported.

These arrests -- and two others earlier in the year - are just the beginning of a new illegal dumping initiative approved by the Collin County Commissioners Court which takes a proactive approach to address and prevent illegal dumping throughout the county. 

If you see an illegal dump site please call the Collin County Sheriff's Office at 972-547-5100.