Catawba County, NC Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 32-6(a)(5) is written broadly: it bars dumping solid waste on the dumper's own land, another person's land, any public highway, street or road, public parks or recreation areas, or any other public property, with the only exception being property the county has specifically designated for waste disposal, such as the sanitary landfill or a solid waste convenience center. That designated-site exception is itself tightly limited: § 32-6(c) lists numerous categories of waste, including radioactive, hazardous and infectious waste, tires, lead-acid batteries, used oil, white goods, and yard trash outside a marked container, that cannot go into the county landfill even through the approved channel, and § 32-6(i) repeats most of that same list for the county's solid waste convenience centers.

Separately, § 32-6(d) requires anyone who has operated an unpermitted 'open dump' to close it under state-directed procedures, including two weeks of vector baiting, compacting and covering the waste with at least two feet of earth if the state deems the site suitable, and recording the disposal location with the register of deeds; failing to close an open dump as required is itself a distinct misdemeanor under the express terms of that subsection, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense until the site is corrected.

Section 32-6(f) also bars new construction on any land that has been used for garbage or solid waste disposal until testing shows no danger of future settling or methane explosion.