Pirate's Cove

There’s so much silly with this story it’s hard to know where to begin

Federal prosecutors target illegal dumping in Houston, saying it’s a civil rights issue

The Justice Department said Friday it is investigating illegal dumping in Houston, including dead bodies and medical waste, that officials said is plaguing Black and Latino neighborhoods in the nation’s fourth-largest city.

First of all, why is the federal DOJ involved in what is a city issue? Perhaps having the state involved, but, not Los Federales. It just goes to show that the feds are way, way to involved in our lives. Also, what’s up with the dumping of dead bodies? Sounds more like murders

The investigation will be led by the department’s civil rights division and will examine whether city police and other departments discriminate against Black and Latino residents in violation of federal civil rights laws. Besides bodies, items dumped in majority Black or Latino neighborhoods include appliances, furniture, tires, mattresses and even vandalized ATM machines, Assistant Atty. Gen. Kristen Clarke said at a news conference Friday.

Huh? How is it the fault of the police if crap is being dumped in these areas? Also, did they consider that maybe most of this stuff is being dumped by the black and Latino residents? From the link from Kristen Clarke

The investigation is prompted by a complaint sent to the Justice Department from Lone Star Legal Aid. The complaint alleges that the City of Houston engages in race and national origin discrimination against a predominately Black and Latino area in Northeast Houston — Houston’s Trinity/Houston Gardens Super Neighborhood 48. The complaint set forth complaints by residents in the upper Neighborhood 48 who frequently make calls complaining about the illegal dumping of household furniture, mattresses, tires, medical waste, trash, dead bodies, and vandalized ATM machines and other items dumped and abandoned in their community. The complaint alleges that the City’s denial of services, failure to enforce municipal codes and permit restrictions, and failure to adequately and equitably respond to illegal dumpsite concerns and service requests threaten the health and safety of Black and Latino people in Houston. These alleged acts also devalue the real property of Black and Latino Houstonians in violation of Title VI.

That’s a pretty damned big stretch. What will she announce when they realize that it’s mostly the locals doing the dumping?

“Illegal dumping is a long-standing environmental justice issue, and like many other environmental justice issues, it often disproportionately burdens Black and Latino communities,” said Clarke, who heads the department’s civil rights division.

The investigation is the first publicly announced environmental justice action since Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland created an office of environmental justice within the agency in May. The new office is focused on “fence-line communities” in Houston, New Orleans, Chicago and other cities that have been exposed to air and water pollution from chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites.

Will they prosecute the locals when they find out most of the trash is from the locals? Under what statute, since this occurred within a state boundary?

Illegal dumpsites not only attract rodents, mosquitos and other vermin that pose health risks, but they can also contaminate surface water and make neighborhoods more susceptible to flooding, Clarke said. They also can lower property values, harm quality of life and even reduce expected lifespans, Clarke and other officials said.

So, maybe the locals should stop dumping all that stuff.

Turner, who is Black, said the city makes it a priority to combat illegal dumping, “a practice that we agree disproportionately plagues Black and brown communities in Houston and many municipalities throughout the country.” The city has spent millions of dollars to fight illegal dumping, Turner said, adding that the problem is overwhelmingly caused by third parties who do not live in the affected neighborhoods.

Really? So outside third parties just go around dumping bodies, furniture, etc, rather than bringing it to the recycling centers? Like “hey, let’s drive all the way over their and dump it”?

During the first six months of the year, Houston residents called the city’s 311 line more than 5,400 times to complain about illegal dumping, the Houston Chronicle reported. That’s nearly as many complaints as recorded in all of 2021, the newspaper said.

Democrat run cities problem

“It’s a huge problem across the entire city,” City Council member Martha Castex-Tatum told the paper. Castex-Tatum blamed much of the illegal dumping on landscaping and construction crews or landlords clearing out recently vacated apartments. Besides tires and mattresses, other items frequently dumped include air conditioners, water heaters and major appliances, she said.

So, they just drive this stuff over to the poor sections and dump it? In all fairness, they could probably use a few more recycling centers, and they do charge a fee for certain stuff. There are more in the county, though. Why do we not have the same issue in the Dem run city of Raleigh? Heck, in the uber-Dem city of Durham they don’t have this same problem.

Still no reason for the feds to be involved nor to blame the police.