Multnomah County officials are asking for help finding the person they’re calling a “perennial pooper,” who has been dumping human waste along roadways in the Corbett and Troutdale areas.
It’s been happening for nearly five years, and the bags of waste have been dropped in about 500 spots, likely all by the same person.
The waste is often mixed with cat litter in plastic shopping bags from Walmart or Dollar Tree. It’s been dropped primarily along four stretches of road:
- Southeast Sweetbriar Road, between Kerslake and Troutdale roads
- Southeast Kerslake Road, between Sweetbriar Road and Stark Street
- Southeast 282nd Avenue, between Sweetbriar and Strebin roads
- Southeast Curtis Drive, between the Historic Highway and Smith Road
Code enforcement officer Dave Thomson says it’s an environmental hazard, a serious issue and something he’s tired of dealing with. But he gets that there’s some potty humor that goes along with covering the story.
“You have to maintain a sense of humor,” he said. “But it is an enormous drain on our workload”
He’s not asking neighbors to pick up the waste, because technically each incident is a crime scene and should be left alone. But he is asking people who live or work in the area to get involved.
“We’re looking for citizens in the community to kind of get engaged, maybe point their cameras toward the road, keep an eye out, report suspicious vehicles,” he said.
Anyone who sees illegal dumping should note specifics, like a car model and license plate number, and call 911.
Anyone who comes across illegally dumped materials is asked to call Multnomah County Environmental Health at 503-988-3464.