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A widespread dumping activity likely overnight Monday this week into early morning Tuesday, March 2 has county hazardous waste staffers scrambling to keep up with disposal and processing, and law enforcement focused on locating the dumpers.

A Chisago County deputy said he came across multiple sites where dozens of paint cans were piled in ditches, some on private drives and on roadsides in the south third of the county.  Locations known at this time include rural Chisago City, 335th, Hemingway Avenue and Lent Trail.

There is also word a dumping site for large quantities of paint containers was located in Anoka County, with about 600 pounds of debris reportedly cleaned-up.

In Chisago County the cleanup so far has involved: 16 five gallon pails of latex, 288 gallon containers of latex, 85 gallons of oil based paint, and 26 gallons of miscellaneous oil base of varying brands, plus about 400 pounds of debris/trash were collected. Lisa Thibodeau, Solid Waste Coordinator for Chisago County, who is officed at the North Branch  Household Hazardous Waste Facility, said she expects more materials to come in for disposal by government entities over the next few days, and paint products off private property that was affected could be arriving for disposal for a while.  The facility is now processing dump truck loads that came in from Lent Township and county highway.

If you saw any suspicious activity on back roads Monday late— into Tuesday very early (March 1-2) please call the sheriff’s non-emergency phone number 651-257-4100.

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