Yuma Veteran Urges Residents to Combat Illegal Dumping, Protect Environment

Retired Marine veteran Vogel spent weeks walking Yuma County's desert roads, bike paths and wildlife corridors, cataloguing what he found: recurring piles of household garbage, discarded furniture and loose plastic left where people walk, children play and wildlife pass through. Then he went public.

Illegal dumping in Yuma has been a serious issue in the community, and Vogel's decision to document and speak out added a personal voice to what has become a pattern of neglect across the county's neighborhoods, fields and remote desert areas. He told KYMA the improperly discarded waste is "threatening the community's environment for generations to come" and urged residents to use curbside pickup, participate in neighborhood cleanups and haul bulky items to authorized disposal sites rather than leaving them roadside.

The Yuma County Water Users' Association has specifically warned that dumping trash or waste material into canals, drainage ditches, access roads or agricultural fields can contaminate the water supply, harm crops and damage vital irrigation infrastructure. Beyond agriculture, illegally dumped tires collect standing water and breed mosquitoes, and the county's own Neighborhood Cleanup Program has acknowledged that illegal dumping "costs taxpayers thousands of dollars every year" just to address. Criminal littering can range from a class 2 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony, with fines up to $150,000.

There are multiple free transfer sites for Yuma County residents to dispose of unwanted waste, and county officials say there is no reason for the dumping they continue to see. The North Gila Valley Transfer Station at 7870 E. County 5th St. is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A second site operates near Tacna at Avenue 40E and County 8th Street. A new South County transfer station on County 19th Street between Avenues D and E is expected to open in July 2026 and will be free to all county residents, accepting household waste, green waste, electronics and up to five tires per year.

City of Yuma residents can drop off recyclables at the city's recycling facility Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon. The city's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program at 1473 S. 2nd Avenue is free and open to all City of Yuma and Yuma County residents, handling chemicals, paints and other materials that should never reach a roadside or canal.

The county's Neighborhood Cleanup Program serves residential subdivisions of 10 to 50 homes in unincorporated areas west of Avenue 15E, providing curbside collection of bulk items as an alternative to illegal dumping along roadsides or on vacant parcels. The City of Yuma's annual bulky-item pickup, zone maps and schedules are posted on the city's public works page at yumaaz.gov.

Yuma County's "Desert Strong: Yuma Clean" initiative, backed by an Arizona Department of Environmental Quality grant of nearly $80,000, has been expanding outreach and education on proper disposal across the county. Residents who witness illegal dumping can report it to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office or the Yuma County Department of Public Works.

Vogel's point is straightforward: the infrastructure is already there. Using it is what keeps Yuma's desert, fields and neighborhoods from paying the price.