Burning trash has made life miserable for Rick Conrad for the last three years, and he doesn't know how to get a timely response from Pima County.
Conrad has lived in Picture Rocks for more than 20 years and loves the community. But a few years ago, his neighbors started burning trash.
Though it's illegal to burn trash, he doesn't mind so much when they just burn paper. But when they burn plastic, the acrid smell is more than a nuisance.
His oldest daughter has asthma, and sometimes the smoke is so bad she has to leave the house. His house has an evaporative cooler, so it sucks the smoke right in.
"I had to put her in the car and take her away," he said.
County officials said there are multiple ways for Conrad to report the problem. The Pima County Sheriff's Department can issue a citation for illegal burning, the Fire Department can report it to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, Conrad could call PDEQ directly and it can set up surveillance or do enforcement based on the Fire Department report.
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He's done those things. So far, none has worked.
After the neighbors ignored repeated requests not to burn their trash, he called the Fire Department. He was told to call the Sheriff's Department next time.
That seemed excessive to Conrad, so he put it off until he just couldn't tolerate it any longer. When he finally did call, nothing changed.
Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Deputy Dawn Barkman said deputies can issue citations for illegal burning. A police report from the deputy's visit to Conrad's house says the deputy didn't see evidence of a recent fire, but Conrad was given the incident report number to give to the PDEQ.
Conrad said his call there reached a recording that told him how to request forms to make a complaint.
Conrad's problem is a common one.
While some air quality complaints deal with businesses that emit pollutants or stir up dust on a daily basis, many involve behavior that stops and starts on an unpredictable schedule — like neighbors burning trash.
PDEQ spokeswoman Frances Dominguez said the department tries to work with complainants to get someone on site at a time when the violation is likely to occur.
"We would make staff available and try to set up surveillance," she said. "We would try to accommodate him."
Unfortunately, the department doesn't have people who can respond as soon as a call comes in, and an inspector from the department has to observe either the violation or evidence of the violation for action to be taken.
But Dominguez said inspectors will go out multiple times to catch someone in the act.
— Erica Meltzer
Who's responsible
Pima County Air Quality Manager Tina Gingras, 740-3340
