Comments on: Is Anyone Afflicted With Illegal Dumping?

By: Anon5

Anon5 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:13:45 +0000

I don’t think the video camera idea is over the top at all. Just make sure it is a visible dome camera so that it might actually have some deterrent effect.

If I lived in the city I would purchase a CCTV system with maybe 4 cameras to keep an eye on my stuff. Said systems go for around $1500-2000 including recorder, which is a trifle for a little piece of mind. At least if anyone were to break into your place, you would have their face on film.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:20:34 +0000

The vacant house on the corner of Shepherd and New Hampshire is now becoming a hotspot for illegal dumping and should qualify as a nuisance property.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:49:53 +0000

I once called in some illegal dumping in my alley, and not only did the city not clean it up, they fined me $150 for it, and I had to take a morning off work to fight it in court. The judge didn’t even have to dismiss it, the Dept. of Public Works representative, was like, “What the fuck, why are we fining you when you called it in?” I know this is how dear old Barry ran things, but I thought Fenty would be so much better…

By: ro

ro — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:48:35 +0000

i once found a bathtub in my YARD! considering the fence was locked and undamaged, that meant someone had to hoist the tub up six feet in the air to get in in there. why they did that? i have no idea. this city makes me chake my head sometimes

By: JDLady

JDLady — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:30:58 +0000

Slightly less annoying but still gets my blood boiling: folks who dump their household trash in/around my supercans. Or just steal them.

By: petworthy

petworthy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:32:07 +0000

i watched two red neck white guys in a truck dump an entire cut down tree in the alley… not before they went into someones yard and grabbed a pink tricycle and stole it. charming.

By: WDC

WDC — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:24:20 +0000

Someone dumped a queen-sized boxspring in my alley a few weeks ago. It was lying flat, blocking the alley (for me, anyway, ’cause I didn’t want to risk a flat tire from driving over nails and splinters). The cop cars that cut through my alley all the time had no problem with it, though. They drove right over it. It stayed there for almost two weeks. (Implied gripe: why didn’t the cops call it in?)

By: hipchickindc

hipchickindc — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:32:16 +0000

We’ve had some dumping, but, as others have said, the city response is usually good. There is a vacant house that has been a problem consistently. We had organized block-by-block and did walk throughs of the alleys with the Mayor and with the head of DCRA, so were able to get the lot cleaned out. Once it was cleaned up, some neighbors put together a makeshift fence that seems to help.

For a while, during the renovation boom, I recall several mentions on the Bloomingdale listserv of contractors appropriating Supercans, but I haven’t noticed as much of a problem lately.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:19:28 +0000

If you have wirless, I think you can get an outdoor webcam. Just have to put it in a spot where IT won’t get swiped. On the alley givithI have sweet weber kettle grill someone dumped becuase it had a brokey leg. Weber sells replacements for cheep. MMMM charred flesh!

By: columbiaheights/petworth

columbiaheights/petworth — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:09:24 +0000

Dumping is less of an issue than is folx going through the stuff placed outside for bulk pickup and making a hellof a mess. Even when you set it out just a couple of hours before the pickup ‘window’ someone always manages to trash the trash.