Illegal Dumpers Be Warned: D.C.'s on the Case

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THE D.C. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS has a Dumpster-diving unit. No kidding.

Many apartment buildings and businesses have trouble with people who illegally dump their garbage in private dumpsters, leaving the building owner responsible for paying to remove the trash.

So the department has employees who will dig through garbage or install surveillance cameras at "chronic dump sites" to get the bottom of illegal garbage dumping, said Anita Chavis, an investigator with the department. The department even has a snappy-acronymed initiative called the Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program, or SWEEP, to teach D.C. residents how to dispose of large trash and how to alert the city to instances of illegal dumping.

What are some clues the dumping investigators look for? Often, mail with a stranger's name and address will be left behind, which allows the department to levy fines, Chavis said. Or sometimes people will write down the license plate number of an illegal dumper and call it in. The department will levy fines of up to $5,000 for particularly large violations, but even minor infractions can cost the dumper $1,000.

But don't go digging through the garbage yourself to catch perps, Chavis said. The investigators don't like that.

"An illegal dump is like a crime scene to us. We have to do the search," she said. "We do extensive investigation."

It's easy for inspectors to identify who dumped trash if it includes mail, but how do they find the source of an old couch? Or a broken refrigerator? Large items are the most likely to be noticed by home or business owners, and they're the most troublesome, since municipal garbage collectors don't take them away with the rest of the trash.

Chavis said the city will haul away large trash from single-family homes if residents call the Citywide Call Center at 202-727-1000. But the District won't pick up bulk trash from apartments or businesses — which, by virtue of having large dumpsters, are more likely to be the victims of illegal dumping.

That has caused problems for Adams Morgan resident Lucy Barber, who said people have left box springs, broken chairs, large cardboard boxes and retaining walls outside her condominium's Dumpster — enough junk to get the building slapped with two $500 fines. Because the District won't take it away, the building is responsible for disposing of the trash unless its owner is found.

Barber, who said friends and neighbors told her that DPW's investigators "don't really do anything," said she didn't think the District could stop people from dumping trash next to her building or figure out who's been doing it. "What, are they gonna track down DNA on the bedsprings?" Barber asked.

Written by Express contributor Gabe Nelson
Photos of an Adams Morgan alley between Champlain and 18th streets NW by Michael Grass/Express