Residents in Trinity/Houston Gardens say they are bracing for setbacks after learning the U.S. Justice Department has quietly ended its federal monitoring agreement with the city of Houston — a move advocates fear will worsen illegal dumping in Houston’s Black and Latino neighborhoods.
The monitoring began in 2022 after residents filed a civil rights complaint accusing the city of slower response times and neglect in communities of color. For many in Trinity Gardens, where trash piles, debris, and hazardous waste have long been part of daily life, the end of oversight feels like a step backward.
“We have nothing to fight with anymore,” said Huey German-Wilson, president of the Trinity/Houston Gardens Super Neighborhood, who has spent years documenting illegal dumping. “We’ve got a watered-down EPA. We’ve got no assistance from the DOJ. The city has no reason to respond to us, and we’re finding that they are truly ignoring us.”
Oversight quietly withdrawn
According to former federal law enforcement officials who spoke to the Associated Press, the Justice Department ended the Houston agreement this year as part of the Trump administration’s broader rollback of environmental justice enforcement.
Houston’s settlement — originally set to run until June 2026 — required improvements in service timelines, public reporting, and community outreach. German-Wilson said the difference during the first year of federal oversight was unmistakable.
“We could email everybody, and they were listening very intently to see what they could do differently,” she said.
That attention, she added, lasted about 18 months.
Then came a change in administration — and a series of natural disasters that compounded existing problems.
“The most recent conversations we had with the mayor were very early last year, before Hurricane Beryl,” German-Wilson said. “The explanation was that there was tree waste and a lot happening around disasters, and it was hard to manage illegal dumping piles when disasters were happening.”
She noted that for more than a decade, the neighborhood has endured at least two major weather events a year, leaving behind piles of debris that often linger.
“We find tree waste on our curbs all the time, and we don’t even know where these trees came from,” she said. “The city has not really been concerned about any of this for us.”
A longstanding problem
Illegal dumping has been a flashpoint in Houston for years, particularly in historically Black neighborhoods like Trinity Gardens. Residents report mattresses, construction debris, medical waste, and dead animals dumped near homes, bus stops, and drainage systems.
A DOJ investigation in 2023 concluded the area had been inundated with “trash, medical waste, mattresses and rotting carcasses,” a characterization city officials previously disputed. But residents say the conditions are undeniable — and dangerous.
“It’s absolutely hazardous,” German-Wilson said. “We’ve found medical waste in some of these piles. You can’t have young people or community members picking that up, even with gloves and safety vests. It’s not safe.”
Carrie Lawrence, who lives just off Laura Koppe, says it’s so bad that she doesn’t like her grandchildren to play outside.
“I know they don’t care about our community because we’re Black and poor,” she said. “But it’s our home. Unfortunately, it’s becoming like a prison because I’m scared to let my young grandchildren play outside because kids like to wander, and who knows what they’ll find in that mess.”
Due to the risk, residents often have to escalate cleanup requests to environmental departments rather than handling the trash themselves.
“There’s waste from various locations that you can’t identify,” she said. “You don’t know what’s in those buckets. You hope it’s paint, but it could be anything. It poses an environmental hazard to our community.”
Those hazards compound other environmental burdens the neighborhood already faces, including proximity to railroad tracks, freeways, and concrete batch plants.
“This just adds insult to injury,” Lawrence said.
Residents blindsided
Many residents said they were stunned to learn federal monitoring had ended — especially after years of work that led to the DOJ’s involvement in the first place.
“We worked on that complaint for six years,” German-Wilson said. “Two or three years before we filed it, and then two or three years after, before the DOJ actually came in.”
The 52-page complaint was submitted to multiple federal agencies. The DOJ’s decision to treat it as a civil rights case was unexpected — and historic.
“It’s only the second time that law has been used like that,” she said. “We couldn’t see that coming. And it wasn’t even the office we thought would pick it up.”
When it did, she said, the impact was immediate. The city launched its One Clean Houston initiative, committing $18 million in resources, additional manpower, and a public data dashboard.
“We saw real traction,” she said. “And then the attention dwindled to nothing.”
Recent city cleanup sweeps have temporarily cleared some dumping sites, but German-Wilson believes the relief is short-lived.
“Once people stop seeing the piles, they’ll ramp back up,” she said. “Those historic dumping spots aren’t going anywhere.”
Fifth Ward also feels the burden
Trinity Gardens is not alone. In the Fifth Ward, residents say the absence of federal accountability has left community organizations shouldering the cost of cleanup.
“We spend thousands of dollars a month paying someone to pick up trash on lots we own,” said Kathy Payton, CEO of the Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation. “It forces citizens, organizations, and businesses to pay for removal.”
Payton said that limited city pickup schedules exacerbate the problem.
“The city only picks up trash once a week in our neighborhood,” she said. “It’s already a challenge.”
City outlines next steps
In a statement, the City of Houston expressed disappointment that the DOJ withdrew from the agreement and emphasized that illegal dumping remains a priority for Mayor John Whitmire’s administration.
“Tackling illegal dumping is one of Mayor Whitmire’s priorities and a major concern,” the statement said. “It is a difficult problem to solve because businesses and some residents take advantage of neighborhoods by disposing of waste instead of taking it to proper sites.”
The city cited several efforts underway, including contracted cleanup teams in the Fifth Ward, increased enforcement against repeat dumpers, expanded video surveillance in dumping hotspots, and a new heavy-trash contractor expected to sweep areas of the city twice in the coming weeks.
German-Wilson said enforcement remains the missing piece.
“If people can dump here without a ticket, without a fine, without the risk of jail, they’ll continue to do it — and they’ll continue to do it in our communities,” she said.
She noted that proposed legislation to increase penalties stalled during the last legislative session, but said residents plan to keep pushing city and state leaders for action.
“There is a solution,” she said. “We just haven’t gotten it yet. And we were hoping the Justice Department would still be here.”
‘We’re not giving up’
German-Wilson said the next step is to resume documenting dumping sites, gather new evidence, and continue pressing for long-term solutions.
“Neighbors shouldn’t have to live like this,” she said. “We’re going to keep fighting — with or without federal oversight.”
Residents in both Trinity Gardens and the Fifth Ward say they intend to hold city leaders accountable and demand the same level of service seen in wealthier areas of Houston.
“This is about dignity, safety, and health,” German-Wilson said. “And we deserve all three.”
