From The Texas Tribune: Black and Latino residents’ complaints about illegal trash dumping in Houston lead to federal investigation

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The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the city of Houston has illegally violated Black and Latino residents’ civil rights regarding how the city handles unlawful dumping of trash, federal investigators announced Friday.

The Justice Department will examine the city’s enforcement and solid-waste management operations, policies and practices when it responds to residents’ requests for municipal services — including how the city picks up illegally discarded trash — and whether those processes have discriminated against Black and Latino Houston residents in violation of federal civil rights law.

“Illegal dumpsites not only attract rodents, mosquitos and other vermin that pose health risks, but they can also contaminate surface water and impact proper drainage, making areas more susceptible to flooding,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “No one in the United States should be exposed to risk of illness and other serious harm because of ineffective solid waste management or inadequate enforcement programs.

“We will conduct a fair and thorough investigation of these environmental justice concerns and their impact on Black and Latino communities in the City of Houston.”

The investigation was spurred by a complaint filed late last year by Lone Star Legal Aid on behalf of a neighborhood in northeast Houston that complained about people dumping tires, sofas, mattresses, TVs and other items on the streets, said Amy Dinn, managing attorney for the environmental justice team at Lone Star Legal Aid. Some illegal dumping has clogged drainage ditches, which has increased flooding problems during heavy rains.

Terms: 

- The U.S. Justice Department
- the city of Houston
- illegally violated Black and Latino residents’ civil rights
- how the city handles unlawful dumping of trash
- federal investigators
- city’s enforcement
- solid-waste management operations, policies and practices
- residents’ requests for municipal services
- how the city picks up illegally discarded trash
- discriminated against Black and Latino Houston residents in violation of federal civil rights law.
- rodents, mosquitos and other vermin that pose health risks
- contaminate surface water
- impact proper drainage
- flooding,”
- U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke
- Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division
- environmental justice
- Black and Latino communities in the City of Houston.”
- Investigation
- complaint filed
- Lone Star Legal Aid
- neighborhood in northeast Houston
- tires, sofas, mattresses, TVs and other items
- Houston’s 311 customer service hotline
- city services
- non-emergency concerns
- environmental hazards
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
- environmental cleanups
- emissions enforcement
- infrastructure investments.
- Biden administration
- Harris County
- state of Texas