Neighbors in South Union and Scott Terrace say the problem has been piling up for months, and they want it stopped.
It's illegally dumped trash that's making many neighbors in South Union so frustrated. We called 311 for them a few times on Monday and by 5:30pm, city crews were out there getting a headstart on picking up some of the mess, with things such as old furniture, toilets and household trash.
"It's an eyesore," declared neighbor Larry Deeton.
A few blocks away on this lot on Dreyfus are old TVs and lot more broken debris.
Neighbor Sabrina Hines said, "It's making the neighborhood look very bad."
Neighbors like Hines and Deeton gave us an up-close look at the illegal dumping problem they say they've been dealing with in South Union. They say the neighborhood nuisance has been piling up for weeks -- in some cases, a couple of months. And they say the mess is drawing too many pests.
"Oooh, rats, roaches, snakes -- especially raccoons and possums," Hines said.
We checked with the city's solid waste department, and like most neighborhoods across Houston, junk trash is scheduled to be picked up here every other month. But some neighbors say their calls to the city haven't been getting immediate attention.
Neighbor Mark Chriestmon explained, "You want to see your community to look nice, and you hate to see people just come and dump trash and all kind of items and construction debris in your neighborhood, because it just brings all the property values down, makes the place look a mess."
Chriestmon says until the city takes care of the problem, he's being vigilant. He says what he did after spotting a couple guys dumping some furniture outside an abandoned house near his home.
"I wrote their license plates down, and I'm going to report them," he said.
You can also report illegal dumping to 311.
At least two crews appeared in the area picking up junk waste Monday evening. Solid waste department initially said they would start picking up bulk trash out here on Tuesday.
Residents who spot illegal dumping and serious trash violations can report it to the City of Houston's Rat-on-a-Rat hotline at 713-525-2728 or the Solid Waste Department at 311.
