Illegal dumping: Furniture, boat litter street in Harnett County

HARNETT COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Homeowners say the streets in one Harnett County community are filled with trash and getting out of control.

Eric Harris said people use a section of Covington Road as a dumping ground for trash instead of taking it to the landfill, and it has been happening for years.

"Mattresses, construction debris, household trash, toilets, deer carcasses," said Harris, as he listed off a few of the things he's seen left along the road. Recently, an old boat was dumped that Eric says has been there for a few weeks.

Eric says he's continually trying to get enforcement for the illegal dumping but trash continues to pile up.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click to see more images of some of the items dumped

The Harnett County Sheriff's Office said they are aware of problems with illegal dumping across the county and they have an environmental officer dedicated to tackling the dumping every day. They also have surveillance cameras, but they say it's tough to catch someone because you need to be in the right place at the right time.

NCDOT is responsible for cleaning up the trash, and they've sent crews to pick up all of the trash on Harris' street except for the boat. The boat is on private property and the Sheriff's Office says they are working on tracking down the owner to see if it can be removed.

If you happen to see someone partaking in illegal dumping, you can help out law enforcement if you take a picture or videos of it. Make sure to get the license plate of the people doing the illegal dumping and report it so it can be investigated.