HOUSTON – What should be a quiet stretch of road behind Worthing High School has turned into an illegal dumping ground, frustrating neighbors and prompting renewed promises of action from city leaders.
Piles of trash line Wilmington Street in Sunnyside: broken toilets, mattresses, sheetrock, shopping carts, and even HVAC equipment. Neighbors say the dumping has been happening for years and is now spreading closer to nearby drainage and a bayou.
“This is not a landfill! It’s a neighborhood street,” said Travis McGee, president of the South Park Super Neighborhood. “It’s already starting to clog the drainage up. Then you got some of everything down here.”
McGee says much of the debris appears to come from remodeling and construction projects, pointing to discarded sheetrock and air-conditioning ducts scattered along the dead-end road. He believes developers and contractors may be illegally dumping to avoid disposal fees.
“They’re trying to save money by not hauling it off,” Houston City Council Member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said after visiting the site. “I’ve never seen it quite this bad.”
Residents say cleanup efforts have happened before, but the dumping always returns. Their solution: block access altogether.
“Since this is a dead end, there’s no reason for cars to be back here,” McGee said. “If you barricade it off, they would not be able to come back here and do this.”
During a walkthrough with KPRC 2 News Reporter Rilwan Balogun, Evans-Shabazz said she’s open to the idea and plans to discuss installing barriers with the property owner.
“I’m going to look into that suggestion about the barrier and engage the property owners,” she said. “This has been an ongoing problem.”
As the conversation continued, Evans-Shabazz confirmed the land is owned by Housing Alliance HTX, formerly known as the Houston Housing Authority, a discovery she says could help speed up solutions.
“I found out that the city housing authority owns the land,” she said. “That makes it easier to block off the road and get it abated.”
The city has since cited the property owner, which Evans-Shabazz says will help create accountability. She added that if Solid Waste or the Housing Alliance HTX cannot act quickly, other funding sources, including council district or mayor’s office funds, could be used to address the problem.
Evans-Shabazz says she is pushing for a cleanup within two to three weeks and emphasized that she wants action not talk.
“I’m appalled,” she said. “I want to walk the walk and get this done as expeditiously as possible.”
Balogun pressed the council member on that timeline, telling her the community is fed up and expects follow-through.
For McGee and other neighbors, the dumping is about more than trash, it’s about how their community is seen.
“It’s an eyesore,” McGee said. “It makes people think there’s nothing good coming out of the hood. But we know different from that.”
A spokesperson for Housing Alliance HTX tells KPRC 2 News they are working with the city on cleanup efforts.
Houston offers free depositories for residents. People can use the depositories up to four times per month. People are required to bring a water bill showing proof of neighborhood residency.
Neighborhood Depositories: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Sunday and Monday
Westpark and Reuse Warehouse: Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Sunday and Monday
Neighborhood Depository
- North - 9003 N Main 77022
- Northwest - 14400 Sommermeyer 77041
- Northeast - 5565 Kirkpatrick 77028
- Southeast - 2240 Central Street 77017
- South - 5100 Sunbeam 77033
- Southwest - 10785 SW Freeway 77074