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

Article X of Lee County's solid waste chapter, Sections 22-154 through 22-157, targets dumping outside the disposal system the county otherwise requires. Section 22-156 addresses illegal disposal sites directly: no one may place, solicit or knowingly permit the placing of solid waste or recyclable materials on property they own or lease unless it was generated on that property and stored properly, or the property is an approved disposal site. Citing state authority under G.S. § 153A-140, the section goes further and declares that storing, accumulating or leaving solid waste or recyclable materials on public or private property in an amount exceeding 50 pounds or 100 cubic feet is, by the ordinance itself, a public nuisance subject to abatement.

Section 22-157 gives enforcement a practical tool: if dumped waste can be traced back to a person, such as through mail, receipts or other identifying material mixed into it, that identification is treated as prima facie evidence that the person dumped it or caused it to be dumped. Enforcement runs through the solid waste division of the Department of General Services under Section 22-168, and the penalty scheme in Section 22-169 applies chapter-wide: a misdemeanor under G.S. § 14-4 punishable by a fine of up to $500.00 or up to 30 days in jail, plus the county's ability to pursue civil abatement of the nuisance created by an illegal dump site.