Inaugural Virtual Statewide Conference on Illegal Dumping
SUPERVISOR NATE MILEY, VICE PRESIDENT
The Inaugural Statewide Conference on Illegal Dumping
After years in the making, the long anticipated Statewide Conference on Illegal Dumping was a huge hit! Nearly 800 people registered and virtually attended three days of learning new information from experts in the field. Most exciting was the opportunity to unveil the “Three E’s” strategy to end illegal dumping, piloted by Supervisor Nate Miley’s office. Through in-depth collaboration with community members, elected officials, and local businesses, the combination of Education, Eradication, and Enforcement has yielded real results as a best practice, and brought environmental justice to East Oakland. As a testament to this success, each day of the conference was devoted to a prong in the Three E’s strategy with expert speakers and panelists from across California to promote awareness and networking. Illegal dumping knows no bounds and causes suffering beyond visual blight – time to address this issue together and bring safety, health, and beauty back to our communities.
April 21, 2021 | DAY 1 | EDUCATION
The conference kicked off with a rallying keynote address by Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, valued partner of the Enforcement arm of the Three E’s, and the Education panelists presented cutting edge information regarding the multiple levels of education needed to comprehensively address illegal dumping. New tools for residents were shared like this RE:Source Guide from StopWaste.Org.
Keynote Speech
Presented by DA Nancy O’Malley
Nancy E. O’Malley is the Alameda County District Attorney. She is the first woman to serve as Alameda County District Attorney. D.A. O’Malley works tirelessly to improve outcomes for individuals in our community. She is especially focused on conditions such as Illegal Dumping and how it impacts those living in neighborhoods that are impacted by illegal dumping. She also focuses on how illegal dumping impacts the environment, the quality of life for those living in neighborhoods and particularly, the health and well-being of residents. Her Office is part of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping Task Force. She has received more than 55 statewide, federal and community awards for her collaborative, innovative work.
Introduction To The Three E’s Strategy
Presented by Erin Armstrong
Erin Armstrong has a successful track record of tackling the most complex and challenging problems facing the Bay Area, with experience in addressing illegal dumping, police oversight, and more. She has an MBA/MPP from Mills College in Oakland, and is the Special Assistant to Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley where she helps to craft policies for Early Care and Education, Police Oversight and Reform, and Homelessness. In 2019 she helped to launch the Alameda County Illegal Dumping (ACID) Pilot, a cross-sector collaborative aimed at addressing illegal dumping.
Video: Through the Eyes of Our Kids
Presented by Ken Houston
Ken Houston is a life-long community advocate and third-generation Oaklander with 30 years experience in the construction industry. He is founder of the Beautification Council, a community-based, nonprofit organization, that addresses public health and safety conditions that plague underserved communities. The Beautification Council’s Best Practices on deterrence of blight were recognized at the 2015 United States Mayors Conference, and thereafter the Beautification Council received grants to address the physical and visual cues that create these horrendous conditions.
StopWaste Education
Presented by Angelina Vergara
Angelina Vergara has been teaching environmental education as a classroom teacher, an environmental educator, a school administrator, and as her current role as StopWaste Schools Program Manager for over twenty-five years. StopWaste Schools programs serves and partners with Alameda County school champions, co-creating action plans for caring individuals and for school communities by fostering students who take action as global citizens, citizen scientists, artists, and agents of systematic change.
Illegal Dumping As An Indicator Of Social Disorder
Presented by Amory Brandt
Amory Brandt is a Senior Executive Analyst with the City Manager’s Office at the City of San Jose where she manages data and GIS mapping projects for beautification programs. Prior to joining the City of San Jose, Amory worked as a science teacher at a low-income middle school in East San Jose through Teach for America. Amory became passionate about equity and environmental justice during her time as an educator, which prompted her to attend San Jose State University for a Master of Science in Environmental Studies. Amory will be presenting her 2017 graduate research from San Jose State University on Illegal Dumping as an Indicator for Social Disorganization.
Upstream Solutions to Illegal Dumping
Hosted by James Harris
Panelists: Ken Houston, Amory Brant, Jeff Bacerra, Doug Kobold
James Harris is an Oakland, California native, entrepreneur and explorer, former teacher and school board member where he served one term as Vice President and three terms as President. He served as trustee and co-chair of the Youth Ventures JPA and Oakland Thrives Leadership Council, a collaboration of the County of Alameda, the City of Oakland and the Oakland Unified School District, designed to secure and leverage resources to improve outcomes for children and youth.
April 22, 2021 | DAY 2 | ERADICATION
Topics discussed are legislation with California Product Stewardship Council, the data-driven RAPID and holistic BeautifySJ programs coming out of San Jose, the different challenges faced by rural, suburban, urban dumping across California, learned about circular economy and waste with National Stewardship Action Council, and premiered the powerful documentary on my illegal dumping pilot by filmmaker Sam Burbank!
Find the 2020 report detailing the success of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping (ACID) pilot here.
CA Legislation to Address Illegal Dumping
Presented by Doug Kobold
Doug Kobold has been “talking trash” for over 28 years. He is the Executive Director for the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC), a position he has held since August 2018. Previously he spent over 18 years with Sacramento County as a Program Manager, over 2 years in consulting, and over 5 years with Yolo County as an Operations Manager. He has a degree in Civil Engineering from California State University, Chico and currently serves as Chair on the SWANA California Chapters Legislative Task Force (LTF) & Vice Chair of the Illegal Dumping Technical Advisory Committee (IDTAC).
Premier: Footage from ACID Pilot Documentary
Presented by Sam Burbank
Sam Burbank is an award-winning filmmaker with over two dozen productions to his credit, including films for National Geographic and Discovery Channel. His work focuses on science, ecology, and exploration. Sam was featured on the cover of Digital Video Magazine for the story Extreme Shooting: Surviving the World’s Toughest Locations. He advises numerous space science groups, and frequently appears as a speaker at science conferences and universities. Sam is the founder of Inverse Square Films.
Eradication Overview
Presented by Joel Corona, California Waste Solutions
Joel Corona is the chief business development officer for California Waste Solutions companies and prior served as the COO since 2007. CWS proudly serves residential recycling customers in the City of Oakland and City of San Jose. He has developed and managed commercial, residential and military collection programs and contracts for garbage and recyclables, and material recovery facilities, landfills, composting and biomass fuel production and products for greater than thirty years. He has had the opportunity to work and succeed at a variety of solid waste operations in United States and in Asia.
Using Data to Address Illegal Dumping
Presented by Olympia Williams & Ed Ramirez, San Jose
Olympia Williams works for the City of San Jose leading programs that support Neighborhood Livability and Quality of Life for our residents. She has spent several years with the City as a division analyst and then managing neighborhood services programs. She is the BeautifySJ Program Manager. The BeautifySJ Program works with neighborhoods and organizations to address litter/trash, illegal dumping, graffiti, and manages trash at homeless encampments. She leads a data informed approach to address issues while using an equity lens to ensure that communities most in need receive adequate services. She enjoys the opportunity to work with residents across the City to improve neighborhood livability in a City that she calls home!
Ed Ramirez is the Supervising Environmental Service Specialist for the City of San Jose. He has over 22 years of experience working within with the City and has managed the RAPID (Removing and Preventing Illegal Dumping) team since its start in July of 2016. He enjoys the opportunity to keep the city he was born and raised in clean and beautiful and believes great effort and determination comes with great rewards!
LA DPW – Garbage Disposal Districts
Presented by Monique Brackett
Monique Brackett is a Management Analyst for Los Angeles County Public Works in its Environmental Programs Division, Residential Trash Section. She helps oversee solid waste collection contracts, participates in the Public Works Illegal Dumping Working Group and is the lead on a project to establish sustainable trash collection systems in unincorporated Antelope Valley areas.
Introduction To IDTAC
Presented by Larry Sweetser
Larry Sweetser specializes in trying to bridge the gap between California’s strict regulatory requirements and reality for solid waste and household hazardous waste programs for over 30 years. He has been assisting the 24-member county Rural Counties’ Environmental Services Joint Powers Authority (ESJPA) since 2000 and also serves on the Solid Waste Association of North America’s California Chapter’s Legislative Task Force. Representing the ESJPA, Larry has been a member of the statewide Illegal Dumping Technical Advisory Committee since 2004 and Chair since 2017. Larry can often be seen monitoring regulatory agency meetings.
National Stewardship Action Council
Presented by Heidi Sanborn
Nancy E. O’Malley is the Alameda County District Attorney. She is the first woman to serve as Alameda County District Attorney. D.A. O’Malley works tirelessly to improve outcomes for individuals in our community. She is especially focused on conditions such as Illegal Dumping and how it impacts those living in neighborhoods that are impacted by illegal dumping. She also focuses on how illegal dumping impacts the environment, the quality of life for those living in neighborhoods and particularly, the health and well-being of residents. Her Office is part of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping Task Force. She has received more than 55 statewide, federal and community awards for her collaborative, innovative work.
Illegal Dumping
Presented by Todd Nienhouse, Waste Management
Nancy E. O’Malley is the Alameda County District Attorney. She is the first woman to serve as Alameda County District Attorney. D.A. O’Malley works tirelessly to improve outcomes for individuals in our community. She is especially focused on conditions such as Illegal Dumping and how it impacts those living in neighborhoods that are impacted by illegal dumping. She also focuses on how illegal dumping impacts the environment, the quality of life for those living in neighborhoods and particularly, the health and well-being of residents. Her Office is part of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping Task Force. She has received more than 55 statewide, federal and community awards for her collaborative, innovative work.
April 23, 2021 | DAY 3 | ENFORCEMENT
Day 1 and 2 showed us that here is so much work happening to end illegal dumping (Check out Supervisor Miley’s wrap up here) – but there is more work be done! Day 3 of focused on the instrumental role Enforcement plays in the synergy of Three E’s.
We heard from many dedicated experts, including the Environmental Unit of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office who helped define “Enforcement” from the Three E’s, how Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment is tackling illegal dumping with an Environmental Officers and clear legal consequences, the approach Contra Costa Sheriffs Office takes and why, and a revealing closing presentation from Caltrans Bay Area.
Partnerships to Promote Enforcement
Presented by Alyce Sandbach and the ACID Team
Alyce Sandbach is a Deputy District Attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Davis, and her law degree from the University of San Francisco. Alyce joined the Alameda DA’s Office in 1989 and prosecuted traditional crimes until 2002, when she was assigned to the office’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Division. Alyce is a key member of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping Task Force where she led on developing camera-based enforcement strategies to catch and prosecute illegal dumpers.
Los Angeles Illegal Dumping Enforcement and Types of Enforcement Available to Agencies
Presented by Gonzalo Barriga
Gonzalo Barriga Jr. has over 18 years of experience in public health and environmental protection working for Los Angeles County Public Health. He is the Assistant Chief Environmental Compliance Officer for the City of Los Angeles. He has a Master of Science in Environmental and Occupational Health from California State University, and is active in developing and implementing environmental enforcement and emergency response policies and procedures pertaining to crimes such as illegal dumping.
Peace Officers Perspective on Illegal Dumping
Presented by Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon is an Inspector with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office’s Environmental Crimes Unit and has 36 years of Law Enforcement Experience. During his law enforcement career, he worked Patrol, Gang Task Force, Traffic, Commercial Truck Enforcement, Marine Patrol, and as a Port liaison Officer, where he gained vast experience in the application of the vehicle code in conducting education through enforcement. In 2013 he led a 10 million dollar cleanup project in the Oakland Estuary in partnered with Cal Recycle, Federal EPA, US Coast Guard and California State Lands, the Alameda County DA’s Office to remove over 200 sunken and derelict vessels.
Tips to Enforce in Rural Areas
Presented by Karen Tandler
Karen Tandler is a 37-year prosecutor with the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney’s Office, currently assigned to the Environmental Crimes Division, Code Enforcement Section. Her assignment includes prosecuting illegal dumpers of household waste and construction waste in the North Area of Los Angeles County. She participates in several organizations working collaboratively to try to achieve a cleaner environment, consisting of the Cal Recycle Enforcement Subcommittee, Antelope Valley Illegal Dumping Task Force, and Los Angeles County Illegal Dumping Working Group.
Role of Sheriff Deputies in Illegal Dumping Pilot
Presented by Deputy Aaron Bjork
Detective Aaron Bjork has been with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for 14 years, worked a variety of positions within the agency and am currently assigned to the Transit Crimes Unit which is a special enforcement team that addresses crime and community issues throughout the County of Alameda.
Baypoint Project (CoCo County)
Presented by Deputy Sheriff Paul O’Mary
Lieutenant Paul O’Mary is a 36-year law enforcement officer. During his 30 years with the Contra Costa Sheriff Department, the unincorporated community of Bay Point fell under his area of operation. This community was plagued with a high crime rate and an even higher rate of littering/illegal dumping. Paul started several in-house Blight Programs and with the collaboration of County Code Enforcement, Environmental Health, Public Works, and the support of the community, they were able to make noticeable impacts on the littering/illegal dumping that was occurring.
Camera-Based Enforcement Strategies
Presented by Alyce Sandbach
Alyce Sandbach is a Deputy District Attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Davis, and her law degree from the University of San Francisco. Alyce joined the Alameda DA’s Office in 1989 and prosecuted traditional crimes until 2002, when she was assigned to the office’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Division. Alyce is a key member of the Alameda County Illegal Dumping Task Force where she led on developing camera-based enforcement strategies to catch and prosecute illegal dumpers.
Closing Keynote
Presented by David Ambuehl, CalTrans
David Ambuehl is the Deputy District Director of Maintenance for Caltrans Bay Area. He has over 30 years of experience with the Department of Transportation spending much of his career in the Division of Construction and later taking on acting assignments as the Department’s Chief Environmental Engineer and Chief of the Department’s Division of Maintenance. Recently he came back to the Bay Area to resume his role as the Deputy District Director of Maintenance and is refocusing his Division’s efforts to prioritize litter and debris removal.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Supervisor Miley would like to thank all of the conference panelists, the incredible sponsors without whom this event would not have happened – California Waste Solutions, Waste Management , AB&I Foundry, Nixxit Junk Removal, Mattress Recycling Council, The Beautification Council, and California Product Stewardship Council – and every viewer who took the time to learn more about how we can end illegal dumping once and for all!
For the most updated information coming out of Supervisor Miley’s office including progress and news about the ACID pilot and illegal dumping, please subscribe to our newsletter here. To join the Illegal Dumping Taskforce please email Erin Armstrong at erin.armstrong@acgov.org.
Save the Date!
Save The Date for next year’s conference: Thursday April 21st and Friday April 22nd!