Inquirer Editorial: Illegal dumpers need to feel the pain

An errant slob who dumps mattresses, sofas, refrigerators, tires, construction debris, and bags of rubbish in Philadelphia neighborhoods faces a typical fine of $300.

That is too small a price to pay for the harm it does to a community. What's worse is that most dumpers get off scot-free because they are never caught.

The Nutter administration is finding some success in a program that trains cameras on a few of the more popular illegal dumps. Using photos of the dumpers and their vehicles' license plates, the four police officers in the Neighborhood Services Unit have ticketed 71 people since 2010. The city is seeking a federal grant to purchase more cameras, which cost $5,500 each.

Philadelphia spends about $1.5 million a year hauling junk away. Last fiscal year, the Streets Department cleared 16,590 tons - yes, tons - of trash from 1,047 illegal locations.

The city has struggled with this problem for years. It has raised fines for escalating offenses, and residents can tip off officials by calling 311. It hasn't been enough.

Another way to get help with the problem could come from a dormant ordinance.

Four years ago, City Council passed a bill sponsored by Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller to give people a bounty for information that helps catch and convict a dumper. Unfortunately, administrative issues (including finding the money to pay the bounty) have kept this idea from being implemented, according to Miller's office.

The bounty gets at a dirty little secret. Many of the dumpers are Philadelphians. They have no problem dumping a sofa behind a supermarket or leaving a busted upright piano in a lot in Germantown. Bags of leaves, grass clippings, and other gardening waste also find their way onto neighborhood lots.

A bounty program may turn neighbor against neighbor. But think about it: Is someone dumping slop outside your window really a good neighbor?

The administration should try to work out its issues with the bounty law and use fines recouped from increased enforcement to pay the bounty, supplement the four cops on the case, and build up its camera program.