MAGNA, Utah -- Magna residents and the public utilities department said they're seeing a problem with illegal dumping in the same spot just south of town.
Not only is it an eyesore, public works said it blocks access to their facilities and they end up having to clean it up.
Michael Fellows drives trucks for a business on the corner of 8400 West and 4100 South. On Tuesday, as he approached his work's gate, he noticed a huge pile of garbage not far down the dirt road.
"I'm disgusted," he said, of seeing all the stuff.
He inspected the pile, lifting up wood paneling and pointing out a number of items including an artificial Christmas tree and decorations, bathroom sinks, a speaker, a bunk bed frame, flooring pieces and garbage bags.
Fellows said it looked, "like they just took off real quick and let it fall out."
Not only is the massive pile a nuisance, a Magna Water District representative said it's blocking the gate to access their water tanks. They said this is the third time this year they've discovered illegal dumping in this same exact spot.
The other two times, public utilities said, they brought in dump trucks to clear everything out.
They said each time workers filled a full truckload. Now that their gate is blocked yet another time, public works said they'll bring in a dump truck again next week.
But for some residents like Steve Valencia, cleaning up isn't the only thing they want to address.
"Somebody's gotta know who did this," Valencia said, rummaging through the pile.
Valencia said he and another friend have cleaned up illegally dumped garbage in other areas around Magna. He heard about this pile and came out to take a look at it.
"I'd like to see some of these people made an example out of," he said.
That's why he looked through the garbage to see if he could find letters or packages with any names or addresses that Valencia said he could turn into law enforcement to help figure out who did this.
Valencia said he did that once before. This time, he can't find anything that points to who this stuff used to belong to.
Both men said the Magna Library offers free vouchers for the landfill. Valencia said he's used those vouchers when cleaning up before.
They hope more people will take advantage of the free trip to the landfill, versus leaving their garbage where they shouldn't.
"You got this stuff already loaded anyway," Fellows said. "Why create a mess for somebody else to have to clean up?"
