Illegal Trash Dumping
One consequence of the City’s high vacancy rate is that deteriorating buildings and untended lots are attractive targets for those seeking to dump trash. Unscrupulous contractors, many from outside of the City, illegally dump construction waste, used tires, and other trash rather than pay to use licensed disposal facilities.¹ This is one of many costs of disinvestment in the City’s majority-black and low-income neighborhoods.
In 2017, 22,000 tons of trash were illegally dumped on City streets and in alleys—compared to 9,000 tons of trash dropped off by individuals at the City’s two transfer stations.² Measured by complaints to the City’s Citizens’ Service Bureau, most of this dumping occurred in majorityblack neighborhoods.³ As Figure 8.1 shows, all six neighborhoods with the most illegal dumping complaints in 2017 were majority-black: Baden, Dutchtown, Greater Ville, Penrose, Walnut Park East, and Wells Goodfellow.
FIGURE 8.1. CITIZENS’ SERVICE BUREAU COMPLAINTS FOR DEBRIS AND ILLEGAL DUMPING BY NEIGHBORHOOD, 2017⁴
The City has begun targeting illegal dumping by increasing enforcement, including posting surveillance cameras and hiring police officers to work overtime.⁵ It is not yet apparent that this has reduced the problem, and there are many community concerns regarding increased law enforcement presence and surveillance in low-income black communities.
Complaints from Dutchtown residents regarding illegal dumping have increased by more than 20% since 2015.⁶ The Dutchtown South Community Corporation has raised the profile of this issue. The Corporation’s “So Fresh, So Clean, So Creative” project is educating City officials and the public about the issue and advocating to reduce illegal dumping and ensure adequate and equitable trash collection service.⁷
Health Threats Related to Illegal Dumping
Illegally-dumped trash poses many kinds of health risks, such as:
• The trash may contain chemicals that are harmful to breathe or touch.
• Nails sticking out of materials, or sharp edges, can cause cuts and infections.
• The trash may attract animals and insects that carry disease.
• Broken glass or syringes may also carry disease.⁸
Illegal dumping can become an even worse threat to a neighborhood because seeing the piles of trash may embolden others to add more illegally-dumped trash.⁹
Regina Dennis-Nana on Illegal Dumping
Regina Dennis-Nana lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Ward 3, a majority-black ward in North City. She serves on the Board of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association. Regina discussed her concerns about illegal dumping and community pride. “We tolerate it. People from other places would report it. Folks here allow outsiders to drop their trash and just say nothing about it. There is a lack of education, a whole generation of people who are missing a sense of community pride.”
Regina sees these issues as linked to the larger system of institutional racism. “I believe that we are fighting against a socially accepted narrative about young Black America that has been adopted as a norm. We can change this with constant messaging and imagery, as well as community celebrations to address what people can do to keep our neighborhood together beyond our own square footage.”
HYDE PARK COMMUNITY SPRING CLEAN UP
References
¹ Doug Moore, Caught on camera: Look who the city nailed when it went after illegal dumpers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Aug. 21, 2018), available at https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/caught-on-camera-look-who-the-city-nailed-when-it/article_5ca9af81-3589-5b7e-8cf3-ed342c424c3a.html.
² KSDK Staff, St. Louis drops restriction to stop illegal dumping, KSDK (Nov. 1, 2019), available at https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/st-louis-drops-restriction-to-stop-illegal-dumping/63-610422321
³ Based on service requests to the Citizen’s Service Bureau in 2017 for debris on alleys/streets, occupied and vacant buildings, and vacant lots, and for illegal trash dumping, where the neighborhood was identified.
⁴ Prepared by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic. Data Sources: City of St. Louis, 2017 Citizens’ Service Bureau Service Request Data, available at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/data/upload/ data-files/csb.zip; City of St. Louis, Census Results (2010), Neighborhood Results, available at http://dynamic.stlouis-mo.gov/census/neighborhood.cfm.
⁵ City of St. Louis, Clean Up St. Louis, available at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/mayor/initiatives/clean-up-st-louis/index.cfm. See also Doug Moore, Caught on camera: Look who the city nailed when it went after illegal dumpers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Aug. 21, 2018), available at https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/caught-on-camera-look-who-thecity-nailed-when-it/article_5ca9af81-3589-5b7e-8cf3-ed342c424c3a.html.
⁶ Eli Chen, Dutchtown Still Reports Many Cases of Illegal Dumping Despite City Efforts to Curb It, St. Louis Public Radio (May 16, 2019), available at https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/dutchtown-still-reports-many-cases-illegal-dumping-despite-city-efforts-curb-it#stream/0.
⁷ Dutchtown South Community Corporation, So Fresh, So Clean, So Creative Southside, available at https://www.dutchtownsouth.org/so-fresh-so-clean-so-creative-south.
⁸ Cumberland County (N.J.) Improvement Authority, How does Illegal Dumping Effect Your Health? (Aug. 4, 2015), available at https://www.ccia-net.com/illegal-dumping-effect-health/.
⁹ Mason County (WA) Public Health, Illegal Dumping, available at https://www.co.mason.wa.us/health/environmental/solid-waste/illegal-dumping.php.