LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There are couches, mattresses and televisions scattered in backyards and alleyways across Metro Louisville.

There's a fine if you illegally dump your items, and a local business owner just learned you could also lose your vehicle. Either way, neighbors are glad the city is taking action.

"This city is beautiful, but the trash is awful," Louisville resident Liz Vaught said.

This is not a landfill, a dump site or recycling.

"They do it all the time, (at) least three days a week," Pedia Turner said.

It's actually in the alleyways and backyards of homes in the Russell neighborhood.

"I try to clean up as much as I can, but that big stuff right there, like those big old tables, and they just had a whole entertainment system, like I said, right there on the corner," Turner said.

It is an ongoing problem that neighbors have been fighting for years.

"I pick it up in front of my house," Vaught said. "I pick it up back here, and I try to keep my area all clean."

But neighbors aren't the only ones on the lookout for illegal dumpers.

"Illegal dumping continues to be a problem throughout Louisville," said Karen Maynard, the Solid Waste Education manager.

Recently, Solid Waste Management Services received a tip and pictures of a pickup truck illegally dumping in an alley behind West Chestnut Street.

The pictures and video included the name of the business.

"The Tiger Junk Removal was operating without a license," Maynard said. "You do have to have a license to be a waste hauling business here in Louisville."

LMPD tracked down the business owner and the truck was impounded.

"It has to stay in impound for at least 72 hours," Maynard said. "And then for all fines and fees must be paid in order to retrieve the vehicle."

Meanwhile, these are some of the other illegal dumpers the city is still looking for.

"I'm overwhelmed," Turner said. "I cannot express how happy I am, so hopefully it'd be a warning to everybody else that attempts to do it."

WDRB reached out to the owner of Tiger Junk Removal and he declined an on-camera interview. 

You can also schedule an appointment for large item pickup. To learn more about disposing of large items, debris, construction material, mattresses or other large items or materials, or to schedule an appointment for pickup, click here.

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