“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,” Clarke said.
The investigation will assess residents’ allegations with respect to possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prevents federal funding recipients from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origins in the services and programs they provide. Clarke said DOJ would try to agree on a compliance plan with city officials to remediate concerns if it finds civil rights violations.
The complaint filed by legal advocacy organization Lone Star Legal Aid alleged the “city’s denial of services, failure to enforce municipal codes and permit restrictions and failure to adequately and equitably respond to illegal dump site concerns and service requests threaten the health and safety of black and Latino people in Houston,” Clarke said. And those “alleged acts also devalue the real property of Black and Latino Houstonians,” which would also violate Title VI, she added.
Clarke said residents “frequently make calls” regarding the “illegal dumping of household furniture, mattresses, tires, medical waste, trash, dead bodies, and vandalized ATM machines and other items.” She said the investigation would examine response times to 311 complaints across all of Houston to determine whether communities with high proportions of Black and Latino residents experience disproportionately worse service.
The investigation will focus on Houston’s 311 system, the police department, its department of neighborhoods and solid waste management department. The office of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Clarke said the complaint suggested Houston is rife with environmental justice concerns, noting 11 of its 13 city-owned landfills and incinerators are in majority-Black neighborhoods — the density of which “can further attract illegal dumping,” she said.
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