DOJ Opens Environmental Racism Probe Into Illegal Dumping of Trash and ‘Dead Bodies’ in Houston
The Biden administration on Friday announced an investigation into how the city of Houston, Texas responds to reports of illegal dumping of everything from trash to human remains in communities of color.
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), said in a Friday speech that the probe will determine whether the city complies with the Title VI nondiscrimination requirements of the Civil Rights Acts.
“The investigation is prompted by a complaint sent to the Justice Department from Lone Star Legal Aid,” she explained. “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.”
Clarke said that the complaint claims residents of the area “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,” she added. “These alleged acts also devalue the real property of Black and Latino Houstonians in violation of Title VI.”
The probe will focus on the Houston Police Department as well as the city’s 311 system and neighborhoods and solid waste management departments, which all receive federal financial assistance. Houston residents can call 311 “for information on city services and to report nonemergency concerns.”
Democratic Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a lengthy statement that the city “was stunned and disappointed” to learn about the probe and “despite the DOJ’s pronouncements, my office received no advanced notice.”
Turner, who is Black, asserted that “from day one, the city of Houston under my administration has prioritized the needs of communities of color that are historically under-resourced and underserved.”
The mayor also slammed the DOJ for inaction on other environmental justice issues in the region and expressed gratitude for Congressman Al Green (D-Texas), whose office said Friday that it fully supports Turner’s “efforts to ensure all Houstonians live in a safe and healthy environment, as well as their cooperation with the rush-to-judgment announcement of an investigation that does the city of Houston a disservice.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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