Sonoma County Illegal Dump Site Awarded State Grant

State officials announced more than $50,000 in grants this week to clean up two properties in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties that became illegal dump sites.

CalRecycle announced on Tuesday the grants awarded through its Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program.

The bulk of the money was given to the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, which received $34,042, CalRecycle officials said.

A Watsonville private landowner found that a portion of his property was littered with an old car and solid waste that had been there for years, according to state recycling officials.

A drainage channel was near the waste site, which posed a threat to wildlife and water supply, CalRecycle officials said. The trash was on a part of the property zoned for residential agriculture and the owner plans to plant wine grapes there once the site is cleaned up.

The Federal Indians of Graton Rancheria in Sonoma County was reimbursed $17,403 from CalRecycle for a homeless encampment that was cleaned up in October. The encampment contained more than 3 tons of household waste, such as propane tanks and syringes, according to CalRecycle.

The site was dangerous for the homeless and was about 50 feet away from the Laguna de Santa Rosa waterway, state recycling officials said. Crews trimmed trees and shrubs and the money will be used to install a fence in an effort to stop trespassers, CalRecycle officials said.

Kings County also received a $28,964 grant from the state for a 160-care parcel that was filled with 20 tons of green municipal solid waste, 85 tons of green waste, 16 tons of treated wood, 10 tons of construction and demolition waste and more than 4,300 tires, according to CalRecycle.

The program awards up to $1 million a year to cities, counties resource conservation district and federally recognized Native American tribes who apply for a grant to clean up an illegal solid waste site. Each applicant can request for $200,000 in a fiscal year and up to $50,000 per site.

--Bay City News

--Image via CalRecycle on Facebook.

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