LA County Public Works seeking criminal charges against owner of alleged illegal dumping site

Large piles of concrete waste and dirt can be seen from the street located on Sierra Highway under the northbound 14 freeway in Newhall, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. Chris Torres/The Signal
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The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is seeking criminal and civil litigation against the owner of a piece of land alleged to have tons of materials dumped onto it, according to a spokesman for Public Works.  

In an email sent to The Signal, Public Information Officer Steven Frasher said that since the county is engaged in litigation with the property owners – which, according to the County Assessor’s Office is listed as Oakridge Enterprises LLC – Public Works is unable to comment on the matter further.  

The land in question is a parcel sandwiched between Sierra Highway on the west and Highway 14 on the east, and comes to a point where the former runs underneath the latter. Although the parcel lies outside of the city of Santa Clarita’s purview and under the jurisdiction of L.A. County, according to Carrie Lujan, spokeswoman for the city, it is just barely outside of city limits. 

Large piles of concrete waste and dirt can be seen from the street located on Sierra Highway under the northbound 14 freeway in Newhall, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. Chris Torres/The Signal

Looking onto the site from Sierra Highway, there are large mounds of concrete, dirt, rebar and trash piled up across the property, some of it rising up approximately 15 feet. There were also several seemingly abandoned vehicles, a bulldozer and a dump truck visible.  

Efforts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful. 

Frasher said Public Works has seen a recent uptick in illegal dumping and said it may be related to the increase in price for properly disposing of materials.  

Large piles of concrete waste and dirt can be seen from the street located on Sierra Highway under the northbound 14 freeway in Newhall, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. Chris Torres/The Signal

According to maps accessed on the County Assessor’s Office website, there is an aqueduct  easement that runs through the property. At the time of this publication, the L.A. County Department of Water and Power has not responded to a request for comment.  

Public Works would like community members who see illegal dumping to report it by calling 1 (888) 8DUMPING (888-838-6746) or by email at [email protected] to provide the address and items for collection. 

There is also a Public Works app, called The Works, that allows public reporting of illegal dumping and other issues, complete with ability to upload photos and geocoding the location. 

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