Illegal Dumping, Junk Cars, and Backyard Burns Can Land You in County Court

Out in the county, the friend-with-a-trailer who offers to haul off your remodel debris can become your legal problem. If you pay someone to take away trash or construction waste and they dump it in a ditch or on someone's back forty instead of a permitted landfill, you can be held liable and charged right alongside them. The county's advice is blunt and worth following: only deal with outfits that are properly permitted, and ask flat-out where they're taking the load before you hand it over.

A junked vehicle sitting where it can be seen from the road or any public spot is its own offense. Under Texas Transportation Code 683.072 it's a public nuisance, a Class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $200, and on conviction a court can order it abated. Ignore that and the county can have the vehicle hauled off to a scrap yard or demolisher.

Burning is the one that catches newcomers. You can't torch tires, PVC and plastics, treated lumber, furniture, carpet, electrical wire, appliances, oils and oil filters, asphalt, or household trash out here — that's strictly prohibited and treated as a crime, separate from any drought burn ban. Brush and clean wood are a different story, but the synthetic stuff isn't. Enforcement runs out of the courthouse office at 300 North Grant, Room 116, in Odessa, and serious air-quality complaints can also go to the TCEQ Air Quality Section at 432-570-1359.