Trash Dumping Season Gets Underway In Lamorinda

Driving through Moraga late this week Lamorinda Patch was struck by the number of pickup trucks and other vehicles carting couches, mattresses and mini-fridges.

Younger Patchers reminded us that it was graduation season, the yearly ritual of commencement, culminating in ceremonies at Saint Mary's and other schools later this month as the young grads depart for the rest of their lives in towns elsewhere.

It appears there's some room clean-up being done at local campuses and home, but not the way Mom taught us, as a lot of this stuff is turning up on the side of the road.

Moragan Dave Evans, who supplied the photos seen here, said he hoped fellow residents were not responsible for the roadside dumping.

"I commute from Moraga to Oakland over Canyon/Pinehurst every day," Evans said. "It seems that some people in the area confuse the remote switchbacks of Pinehurst with a dump.  Every once in a while someone will dump a few large items along the road, usually chairs or other furniture."

Lafayette resident Craig Lassiter said he was driving on Saint Mary's Road on his way into Moraga when he had to swerve to avoid a large chair someone had dumped near the city limit sign.

"I came around the corner and it was in the middle of my lane, standing upright," Lassiter said. "I moved it off to the shoulder and there were all these empty booze bottles that looked like they came with it. It looked to me like what was left of a dorm room."

A short visit to Saint Mary's College confirmed that students there are pulling out, with commencement scheduled in just a few days. No one admitted to any "midnight dumping."

"These dumpings are becoming more frequent, and messier," Evans said. "The one on the road now is a real eyesore. Eventually, I presume, someone will clean this up.  Who has that thankless task?"

The City Public Works department where the trash is found gets the thankless job of collecting it, unless the dump pile is on a unincorporated land - then the Contra Costa County Public Works Department gets the nod.

"I would like to believe Moragans are not responsible for this," Evans said, "but I can't understand why anyone would go to the trouble of loading up a truck with junk and drive up that windy road... in the middle of the night, just to pour it all out.  Why not go to the dump?"