River Parks Adding Fencing Around Turkey Mountain To Stop Illegal Dumping

Illegal dumping at Turkey Mountain prompts the River Parks Authority to add fencing.

Illegal dump sites litter the land on the northeast corner of Highway 75 and 61st Street.

Volunteers do their best to keep the park area clean with bi-annual clean ups, and now the River Parks Authority is working to stop the illegal dumping.

"There's been a time or two our maintenance crews came up here and hauled things off, but, you know, we just don't have the staff to keep up with that," said Matt Meyer with River Parks Authority.

Everything from brush piles to entire living rooms has been left in the middle of the urban wilderness.

Parts of the land used to be private property; trails go through it and lead to trash piles.

Developers of an outlet mall pulled out of the area a year ago.

With help from the Kaiser Foundation, the River Parks Authority bought the land and now controls it.

With that control, the River Parks Authority contractors started installing fence posts hoping to block people from driving onto park property.

Meyer wants to make sure everyone knows it's illegal for people to go four-wheeling or ride motorized dirt bikes on Turkey Mountain.

And when it comes to trash, if you see something, say something.

"If you as a park user see somebody dumping trash there we ask that you call TPD and report it," Meyer said.

The fine for dumping is $500.

The Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition said it's getting several dumpsters and plans a large cleanup day May 21st.