In West Texas, Resource-Strapped Ector County Battles Illegal Dumping From massive scrap tire piles to raw sewage, illegal dumping is rampant in Ector County. With few resources, members of its existing environmental enforcement team are struggling to keep their heads above all of the trash.

Illegal dumping related to the oil industry is rampant in West Texas, as seen in this large trash pit on an abandoned residential property in West Odessa. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard Illegal dumping related to the oil industry is rampant in West Texas, as seen in this large trash pit on an abandoned residential property in West Odessa. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard

Originally published June 12, 2019

By Jill Ament

In the heart of West Texas’ oil country, illegal dumping is rampant. The problem is so bad that more counties are creating local environmental teams to combat it. For the next three days, the Texas Standard’s Jill Ament will be telling us about the scope of illegal dumping in West Texas. We begin with the leader of a tiny environmental enforcement team in giant Ector County.

Ector County Environmental Enforcement Director Rickey George steers an ATV through one unincorporated part of the county – a sort of no-man’s land called West Odessa. It’s an area bursting with oil production activity. Pumpjacks dot the dusty, flat bushland, as far as the eye can see.

“This is a road that’s obviously very popular just to dump stuff on,” George says. “We monitor this road quite frequently. Every time you see one of these oil field lease sites, you can expect trash there.”

We’ve been traveling on roads the oil companies built to give trucks quicker access to oil rigs. It’s recently rained so a lot of these roads have become mud pits.

“You got 900 square miles of county, but then you have thousands of miles of oil field lease roads,” George says.

But these oil lease roads, tucked as they are far from the main highways, attract another type of customer: Illegal trash dumpers.

Scrap tires, old oil field equipment, household appliances and furniture surround us.

A large tire pile on a residential property in west Odessa - illegal dumping related to the oil industry. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard A large tire pile on a residential property in west Odessa - illegal dumping related to the oil industry. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard

To catch illegal dumpers in the act, George has hidden small game cameras along these roads. On this day, he’s keeping his eyes peeled for a man one of his cameras caught days earlier dumping cardboard boxes and plastic wrap. As we hunt for that man, another potential illegal dumper crosses our path. A pickup truck hauling old chairs, a sofa and some household appliances drives by us. George whips the ATV into a U-Turn and precedes to pull the truck over.

“Oh, yeah I don’t think so baby. He’s looking to dump that,” George says.

Under Texas law, trash over five pounds that’s illegally dumped can result in jail time. But because the person George pulls over hasn’t technically dumped anything, he’s issuing a warning.

“I’m gonna tell him tomorrow he’s gotta go to the landfill and give me a receipt that he’s legally disposed of that. If I don’t get a receipt, I issue a warrant for his arrest,” George says.

Rickey George, director of environmental enforcement with the Ector County Environmental Police. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard Rickey George, director of environmental enforcement with the Ector County Environmental Police. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard

George says illegal dumping in Ector County isn’t new. But with so many more people flocking to the area to get work, the area’s illegal trash problem is getting out of hand.

“So for decades, we’ve had very poor enforcement in this county on illegal dumping and that lack of enforcement has led to a major illegal dumping problem,” George says.

In an oil boom, potential new employees who flock to town, quickly test the limits of an area’s existing housing stock. George says now, more new people are moving outside of city limits either in existing RV parks, or sort of start-up RV parks that pop up randomly along county roads and on landowners’ property in West Odessa.

“One of our problem areas is people are trying to make money by providing RV housing for these people, but that requires proper septic installations, proper waste disposal, disposing of their trash. They’re all just spin offs of a population increase,” George says.

In Ector County’s unincorporated areas –the land not in a city or town –residents have to pay for private trash services that cost between $40 and $80 a month. Or, you can take a load of trash to a private landfill for about 75 bucks. George says it’s just cheaper, and easier, for residents to illegally dump.

George was born and raised in Odessa. He spent most of his law enforcement career here. So, when the county created an environmental unit to do something about all the illegal dumping going on, he signed on.

“Once I realized the scope of the problem, I do take it a little personally. I don’t like my home being trashed by anybody. Don’t mess with Texas. Don’t mess with Odessa, Texas,” he says.

George’s team mission is to enforce the state’s dumping laws, especially in oil country. Penalties can range from a small fine to months in jail.

But so far, it’s been an uphill battle.

Ector County’s population is booming because of the oil industry, but county services aren’t keeping up. Case in point? There are only three people on the Ector County Environmental Task Force: George and two investigators.

“We definitely are short-staffed. I think everybody, I think it’s regardless of what department you’re in, in Midland or Ector County, you don’t have enough people to keep up with the need,” George says.

And with an annual budget of $300,000, the team is struggling to keep their heads above, well, all of the trash.

Jesse Garcia, a criminal investigator with the Ector County Environmental Police, at a large trash pit on an abandoned residential property in west Odessa. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard Jesse Garcia, a criminal investigator with the Ector County Environmental Police, at a large trash pit on an abandoned residential property in west Odessa. Photo by Gabriel C. Pérez/Texas Standard

Back on our ride-along, George shows me some of the most-used illegal dumping sites in the county.

We stop in front of a two-acre junk pile that includes ceiling fans, a lot of wooden crates, tires and insulation. George says people have been dumping on this particular property, without the owner’s consent, for years.

A nearby sign reads, “No Illegal Dumping.” It’s riddled with bullet holes.

Down the road, another dump site hides behind some double-wide trailers. This time, it’s an illegal scrap tire site.

At this particular spot, a man and his family were running an illegal scrap tire pile business. The offenses made by the family were jailable. George’s team was able to convict the family – but they’re currently on the run and the scrap tire pile remains.

“It’s an eyesore. It’s urban blight,” George says. “But the more pressing issue is: It’s a habitat for rodents. You just provided a motel for mosquitoes. Zika. West Nile. Disease carriers, right?”

Cleaning up an illegal dump site is expensive, especially for scrap tires. Right now, scrap tire disposal in the state of Texas runs at about $80 a ton. So, George is still trying to figure out the most cost efficient way to clean up the dump sites and keep them clean.

“Who cleans up the mess? That’s the million-dollar question in environmental enforcement,” George says. “There’s only four options: 1) he bad guy cleans up the mess. 2) The property owner cleans up the mess. 3) The taxpayers clean up the mess. 4) Or no one cleans up the mess.”

He says the sheer number of sites that need to be addressed in Ector County is overwhelming.

“I mean, just, I used to try to count them and mark them with a GPS marker… It’s just taking too much time. I don’t have time to work if I’m just marking dump sites. So, it’s just safe to say there’s thousands,” George says.

For now, when they do catch someone who’s illegally dumping, if the crime isn’t egregious and it’s a first-time offender, their enforcement approach is a bit remedial. If the offender has already dumped the trash, they’re required to pick it up and take it to the private landfill. They’ll have to give the county a receipt from the landfill the next day. Then, they’ll only have to pay a minimum fine. Otherwise, the offender will face the crimes full penalty.

“It really boils down to – local law enforcement needs to do a better job with these laws. These are laws that are traditionally ignored, and most law enforcement pawns them off to either code enforcement or it’s not my job and really it is,” George says.

Neighboring Midland County is also dealing with an illegal dumping problem. Using George’s team in Ector County as a guide, the Midland County District Attorney’s Office recently created their own environmental enforcement unit.

In the next installment of this Texas Standard series, we tell you more about the cases the DA has been prosecuting – including one involving raw sewage from a trair park ending up on a nature preserve.