HINDS COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Illegal dumping is a nationwide issue. In the Jackson metro area, it’s becoming a nusiance.

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors discussed illegal dumping during their meeting on Monday, December 4.

Illegal dumping decreases the property value of different locations. Officials with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) said it can also impair water quality.

Hinds County Supervisor David Archie, District 2, believes more needs to be done to combat the issue. He said people are becoming too comfortable with trashing areas around the county.

“One of the things that I was going to suggest to this board is that it has got to make Emergency Management sharpen their tools a little bit and maybe put that one particular thing, like we used to have this county patrol. We used to have county patrol years ago, and they would deal with some of that stuff by illegal dumping and some of the things that the sheriff’s department wasn’t always dealing with,” Archie stated.

According to MDEQ, any person found illegally dumping could face a $25,000 fine.