SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Suffolk wants litter bugs to clean up their act or face the consequences. To that end, the city has established an Environmental Crimes Task Force, as Suffolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Narendra Pleas said illegal dumping of waste and hazardous materials has gotten out of h and, not only damaging the community, but potentially costing taxpayers in the end. It's curbside eyesores like the mound of tires and other waste off of Route 58 that the city wants to prevent. "What's happening is people are taking these items and just putting them somewhere because they don't want to pay an extra $5," Pleas said. "Or they don't want to take the time out to do it the right way. And they think it's just easier to do it in the middle of the night and dump a house load of furniture. And that's what we've had." The newly formed Environmental Crimes Task Force allocates one person from the fire marshal's office to work in tandem with the Commonwealth's Attorney's office. Their goal is to educate, prevent, inform and remediate, in hopes of reversing the negatives caused by environmental crimes."This leads to a decrease of home values, it slows economic development and it increases criminal activity,” Pleas said.And one man's trash can be another man's biohazard. Suffolk Fire and Rescue once found a 500-gallon tote full of red liquid that took them three hours to both identify and dispose of."It's identified as a weed killer — roundup style that was dyed red," said Suffolk Fire Chief Mike Barakey. "By then, you have to think about firefighters now handling this product that's going to be cancer-causing. So then, for two, three hours, you have fire crews that are out of service mitigating a hazard call."And proper disposal of hazardous materials can end up costing you."That becomes a hazardous waste," Barakey said. "It goes to the landfill, so someone has to pay for that. So the bill comes back to the citizens."They're targeting hot spots, like behind the Food Lion on Portsmouth Boulevard. A security camera posted there is part of the new initiative to catch perpetrators."Because every time we go out, it's new trash,” Pleas said.Most crimes are Class 1 misdemeanors, but they can include fines of more than $32,000 — money that goes back into funding this initiative.“We can't change the global sphere," Pleas said. "We can change what happens here in Suffolk, so that's where we start." She said oftentimes, it can be construction crews that don’t want to pay the fees associated with properly disposing of these materials, or residents who don’t know how to. You can visit the city’s website for ways to properly dispose of hazardous waste or materials. ...read more read less