Local law enforcement and the Summit Daily News are asking for community assistance in identifying the party responsible for illegally dumping hundreds of newspapers along Colorado Highway 9 over recent weeks.

Last month, community members began reporting hundreds of Summit Daily newspapers scattered on the sides of Highway 9 just north of Silverthorne. There have been at least four instances of the illegal dumping since July 11, according to police reports.

Summit Daily leadership is confident that the problem isn’t internal. Publisher Meg Boyer said moves have been made to shift around carriers on the route to ensure nobody on the team was responsible, but the problem has persisted.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office considers the case inactive until an investigative lead is developed or a suspect is identified. Employees with the Summit Daily, town of Silverthorne and the Colorado Department of Transportation have been helping to clean the mess.

Anyone with information about the illegal dumping is being asked to contact local law enforcement or email the Summit Daily at news@summitdaily.com.

“We’re not into littering, and we realize it reflects poorly on our business,” Boyer said. “That’s something we take seriously. Our credibility is the most important thing we have going for us. This is a real problem, and we need to solve it.”