Precinct 3 Constable Herbie Vaughan said he and Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Mike Mitchell have been attempting to catch the perpetrators of the remote, rural dump ground for three years, before finally deciding to buy motion-activated wildlife surveillance equipment out of their own pockets and stake out the site via hidden cameras.
The county owns surveillance cameras, but the equipment is too bulky to hide in the dump area, he said. The wildlife cameras are about the size
of a cracker box and were easily concealed in the overgrown vegetation along the paved roadway, Vaughan said.
“It is along a mile-long straightaway, so you can’t drive up on them while they are dumping,” Vaughan said. The creek discharges water into the Brazos River, and the illegal dump site established the potential for pollutants to enter the stream.
After capturing more than 10,000 still images, including some taken when wind blew tree limbs into the motion detector’s range, the law officers identified five people and recorded their license plates and vehicles. Images captured the individuals disposing of trash at the site along the Old Hearne Highway, Vaughan said.
Additionally, the cameras captured images of numerous people who stopped to look at the dump site, Vaughan said.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Dale Jaecks said because of the heavily overgrown ravine and the 15-foot drop-off into the creek, clean up could exceed $10,000.
Milam County District Attorney Kerry Spears said the offenses of unauthorized discharge and illegal dumping carry maximum penalties of 180 days in the county jail and a fine not to exceed $2,000 for Class B misdemeanor charges, or up to a year in the county jail and a maximum fine of $4,000.
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