Houston city council's effort to stop illegal dumping: 'Going to take all of us working together'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The city of Houston vows to keep fighting illegal dumping and made two notable announcements about those efforts on Wednesday at the city council.

"It's going to take all of us working together to keep it from happening," Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

First of all, the city has negotiated a contract worth up to three years and nearly $8 million to hire an outside contractor to assist in picking up heavy and illegally-dumped trash across the city.

SEE ALSO: 24 Hour Tire Connection owner accused of illegally dumping 100 tires twice in 8 days

The second announcement from Turner is that a comprehensive plan to fight illegal dumping, similar in format to the One Safe Houston plan that fights violent crime, is in the works.

He said an announcement of that plan will be forthcoming.

"We're welcome to any and all ideas as we move forward," Turner said.

The discussion around the issue of illegal dumping was spirited at city council Wednesday morning, as multiple council members weighed in on the issue.

SEE ALSO: The price of illegal dumping going up in Houston: Now up to $4,000

Turner also laid out several reasons why he feels like illegal dumping is an issue in the city of Houston. One reason he gave is that many underserved communities feel a lack of value in their neighborhood.

"You invest in stuff that you value, and for a long time, we have not invested in many of these communities," he said.

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