Loudoun County, VA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

The Codified Ordinances state plainly that "no person shall dispose of solid waste in open dumps" and that "open dumping is prohibited in Loudoun County," making it unlawful for an owner to "cause, suffer, allow or permit open dumping on his or her property" (§ 1080.04(b)(4)-(5)). Section 1080.05(a) reinforces the point: "Open dumps are prohibited in the County." An "open dump" is defined at § 1080.02(62) as a non-permitted site where solid waste is placed, discharged, deposited, injected, dumped or spilled so as to create a nuisance or potential hazard to health or the environment, or any permitted site that falls out of compliance with Chapter 1080.

The definition cross-references § 648.03(g), which treats an open dump as a nuisance in its own right, giving the County a second enforcement track through the nuisance code. Enforcement runs through the Director of the Office of Solid Waste Management, who administers Chapter 1080's permit and inspection scheme; a property found operating an unpermitted dump site can also lose any solid-waste permit it holds, since § 1080.99(a) makes conviction under the chapter grounds for permit revocation. Beyond criminal prosecution, § 1080.27 lets the Director pursue injunction, mandamus, abatement or "any other appropriate action to prevent, enjoin, abate or remove a violation." That gives the County a civil path to force cleanup even where criminal charges are slow or contested.

Because Chapter 1080 does not set its own fine for open dumping specifically, the violation falls to the county-wide backstop penalty at § 202.99, which applies to any Codified Ordinances violation lacking a dedicated penalty clause.