Residents along Tidwell and Peachtree say illegal dumping has become a major problem. We turned to the Houston Police Department's Environmental Investigations unit to get those residents some answers.
For Leonela Hernandez, Kashmere Gardens was the ideal place to live.
"I have my daughter's school close and I really like the school because she's been learning so good," Hernandez said.
The only drawback is a heaping pile of trash next door that seems to get bigger and bigger every day. Hernandez says it's downright dangerous.
She said, "There's glass, there's beer bottles and there are a lot of things here that can be recycled."
Most of the dumping takes place in vacant lots or ditches, from tires and crates to just about everything else you can think of. Longtime residents are frustrated.
Resident HL Davis said, "The biggest thing is the city doesn't pick it up and so people just dump it, I guess. They dump it at night and you can't catch them you know. People around trying to be catching them, but you can't catch them you know."
These cases can be difficult to solve, but HPD's Environmental Investigations unit deals with the complaints as they come in -- sometimes as many as 300 per month.
"We target areas as we have activity levels that increase," HPD's Stephen Dicker explained. "We'll do different types of surveillance operations in those areas and we've been fairly successful."
Hernandez hopes police will have that same kind of success in her neighborhood.
"I've got four girls and I don't want them coming out here and getting hurt and seeing this or growing up in this environment," she said.
If you'd like to report illegal dumping in your neighborhood, call HPD's complaint line at 713-525-2728.
