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The Justice Department on Friday opened an environmental justice investigation into allegations that the city of Houston has not responded equitably to reports of illegal dumping in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the civil rights division, said the investigation will focus primarily on the northeast section of the nation’s fourth-largest city, including the Trinity and Houston Gardens neighborhoods. Residents of those communities have long expressed concern about the dumping of furniture, tires, medical waste, ATMs, dead animals and even human bodies, officials said.
Since his appointment last year as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Merrick Garland has sought to prioritize environmental justice issues, announcing in May the creation of a Justice Department office to help coordinate the federal government’s legal strategy. Houston’s case, officials said, was prompted by a 65-page complaint from Lone Star Legal Aid, which alleged the city has denied services and failed to enforce municipal codes in some neighborhoods.
“The complaint we received indicates that the issues go back years,” Clarke said. “It is deeply troubling to see reports of items being dumped and abandoned regularly in black and Latino communities.”
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Justice officials said investigators have requested data from the city of Houston’s 311 service center to determine if there has been a pattern of neglecting calls from certain sections of the city. The investigation will focus on the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, police department and solid waste management division, all of which receive federal funding.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, jurisdictions that receive federal funding cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
Huey German-Wilson, president of Super Neighborhood 48, a community group that represents the affected areas, said she cried with relief when she heard the Justice Department’s intervention. He said residents have tried to work with city officials to fix problems they’ve identified with the 311 system, to no avail.
“We’ve been working on this for seven years seriously. We saw illegal dumping as one of our No. 1 nuisances,” German-Wilson said, citing one case where residents reported more than 200 tires in a space the size of a football field.
Lone Star Legal Aid filed its complaint with several federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The organization included a broader set of concerns, including a lack of economic development, including grocery stores, and the need for more parks and recreational space. Justice officials held a conference call with representatives of those agencies and community leaders in April.
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In a follow-up letter to the Justice Department this month, Amy Catherine Dinn, an attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid, cited ongoing problems with Houston’s service call line, despite the city’s efforts to implement a new system, and wrote that the 311 reporting system “is broken.”
A spokeswoman for Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) said the office would issue a statement.
Clarke said illegal dumping can harm neighborhoods in multiple ways, including attracting rodents and mosquitoes, lowering property values, causing disease, clogging sewer drainage and contaminating drinking water.
“In America, your zip code is often a key determinant of your cancer risk … and even your life expectancy,” said Todd S. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Division of Environment and Resources naturals of the Department of Justice. “It’s true that any of us could be exposed to environmental pollution, but it’s also true that communities of color, low-income communities, and tribal communities bear these hardships disproportionately.”
Clarke said the Justice Department will seek to work collaboratively with Houston officials to develop a voluntary compliance plan to address any violations uncovered in the investigation.