Pima county spending $66,000 to solve a $50,000 problem. dont think of it as wasted money but as a jobs program for high paid cops. Original Article Clogging the system: County plans to hire sewer sleuth to ID dumpers By Erica Meltzer ARIZONA DAILY STAR Engine blocks and bowling equipment don't belong in the sewers. If this is news to you, watch out. Pima County plans to hire an investigator to track down the people who would rather dump their bulky trash in the sewers than take it to the landfill. Like any law enforcement officer, the investigator will carry a badge and a gun and have the authority to arrest violators. Illegal dumping in the sewers accounts for a third of all sewer overflows, said Mike Bunch, deputy director of conveyance and development services at Pima County's Wastewater Management Department. At least twice a month, workers pull unlikely items from the sewers, among them beer kegs, an entire load of landscaping waste, engine blocks and equipment from a bowling alley. "If it can fit down a manhole cover, we've seen it," Bunch said. Cleaning up after illegal dumping in the sewers costs the county at least $50,000 a year in labor and chemicals, Bunch said. More important, trash that doesn't belong in the sewers blocks the pipes, causing overflows. That exposes the public to the dangers of raw sewage and the county to the additional cost of large fines, Bunch said. That's why the wastewater department is prepared to pay $66,000 a year for an investigator who will work out of the County Attorney's Office and hunt down violators. "We're going to hold accountable the people who are damaging our sewer system and endangering the public health and safety," Bunch said. The County Board of Supervisors must approve the hiring at its meeting Tuesday, at 9 a.m., at 130 W. Congress St. Contact reporter Erica Meltzer at 807-7790 or emeltzer@azstarnet.com.