Brookhaven, GA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 22-4(a) of the Brookhaven Code makes it unlawful for any person to dump, or cause to be dumped, garbage, refuse, litter, junk, appliances, equipment, cans, bottles, paper, lumber, trees, tree limbs, brush or parts of them anywhere in the city. The exceptions are dumping permitted by city regulations at the incinerator or sanitary landfills operated by the city or county, and dumping with the express approval of the city council by action. Subsection (b) exempts fill: sand, dirt, blocks, broken pavement or other suitable material dumped on private property with the owner's permission and the applicable city land disturbance or building permits, provided it is not maintained in an unsightly condition and the owner agrees to level it with appropriate grading equipment.

Subsection (c) sets an evidence rule: if dumped material can be identified as having last belonged to, been possessed by, sent to or received by a person, that identification is prima facie evidence that the owner dumped it. Under subsection (d), the city council pays a reward, in an amount set by council action and on file with the city clerk, to a person whose information leads to the arrest and conviction of a violator.

The litter article covers public and private property and waters. Section 22-111 makes it unlawful for an operator of a conveyance or any person to dump, deposit, throw or leave litter on any public or private property or in any waters in the city, unless the property is designated for disposal and the person is authorized, or the litter goes into an approved receptacle. A construction site operator is barred from dumping construction site debris or waste the same way. Section 22-114 creates a rebuttable presumption against the operator of a conveyance from which litter is thrown, and against a person whose name appears on writings found in dumped litter. Section 22-77 separately makes it unlawful to dump scrap tires on a public highway, road, street, alley or right-of-way, in any river, canal, stream, creek or fresh water lake, or on public or private property not owned or maintained by the violator.