Somerville, MA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 12-3 lists an extensive, specific catalog of prohibited dumping targets and locations: no one may drop, place or throw and allow to remain, in or on "any catch basin, street, sidewalk, park, or other public place," items including ashes, cinders, glass, crockery, scrap iron, nails, stones, gravel, sand, paper, wood, lumber or other building material, tree trimmings, wire, manure, handbills, shavings, dirt, brine or salt mixtures, oyster, clam or lobster shells, fish, fruit, vegetable or meat waste, or "any other rubbish or filth or offensive matter or substance, liquid or solid or any kind whatsoever," unless the person is authorized by ordinance or has permission from the city council or the commissioner of public works.

The section derives from the 1963 Code and was last updated effective April 16, 2021. It sits alongside a cluster of related public-property waste rules: section 11-30 covers city collection of ashes and offal, section 11-41 bars disturbing trash containers before collection, section 11-42 restricts placing trash in public receptacles, and section 12-12 separately bars leaving material on sidewalks or streets overnight without a permit. 00 flat penalty, distinct from the code's general $300 default penalty that applies where no specific fine is listed, and both police officers and health inspectors are named as enforcing personnel for this offense.