NEW ORLEANS — This week, the Departments of Sanitation and Public Works cleared a massive illegal dumping site at the end of McCoy Street in New Orleans East. Sanitation was alerted by New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) after it responded to fires set at the location. The Department of Public Works (DPW) utilized heavy equipment to remove more than 480 intact waste tires and other burned tires and debris from the street and ditches adjacent to the roadway. Sanitation transported the items to appropriate disposal or recycling facilities.
If you see any illegal dumping or tire shops that are not in compliance with City or State codes, you are urged to call 311. The Mayor’s office says that illegal dumping is costly and harmful to surrounding communities.
- Dumped items are generally breeding ground for mosquitoes and can harbor rodents.
- Debris Tire piles can limit access to areas by critical public safety teams in responding to service calls.
- Fires in dumped debris piles can spread to other areas and affect critical utilities, transportation and properties and could cause the release of toxic fumes.
- Crews of the Department of Sanitation, Public Works, the Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board and the Sewerage and Water Board spend a considerable amount of scarce resources removing a staggering volume of illegal dumping from public right of ways every year. In 2018, approximately 47,964 tires and in 2019, approximately 33,398 tires were removed from illegal dumping sites and transported by the Department of Sanitation. It appears these numbers may be exceeded in 2020 based on our year-to-date numbers.
The Mayor’s office says that enforcement of businesses generating waste tires continues to increase by NOPD, Safety and Permits, Code Enforcement, Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control, Sanitation, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). There are fines and penalties related to:
- Storing more than 20 waste tires unless a permit is obtained from LDEQ which must be prominently displayed to the public
- Not keeping all LDEQ required manifests on site documenting legal disposal of tires over the last five years
- Storing more than 150 waste tires at one time unless covered to exclude water and rodents
- Transporting more than 20 tires at one time unless the vehicle is permitted by LDEQ and the permits are permanently affixed to the sides of the transport vehicle
Persons convicted of illegal dumping have been sentenced to jail or fined.