Illegal dumping allegation derails city deal

District K City Councilmember Martha Castex-Tatum blocked an $879,000 city contract for a local landscape company Wednesday, saying one of its employees had been caught on camera illegally dumping tree waste.

With Mayor Sylvester Turner’s support, Castex-Tatum, who also serves as vice mayor pro tem, referred the proposed contract with Yellowstone Landscape back to the administration, effectively killing it or at least putting it on hold.

Castex-Tatum alleged that a company employee pulled onto a dead-end street near West Airport and Buffalo Speedway last November and dumped the tree waste from its bed and a trailer. The act was caught on camera, Castex-Tatum said, adding she has referred the footage to Houston police.

Yellowstone did not return calls to its Houston office or national field support office Wednesday.

Records show the company has received more than $4 million in city contracts since 2013 for the purchase of trees, maintenance and landscaping work.

Yellowstone was set to get another contract for landscaping on Wednesday until Castex-Tatum blocked it.

“It is extremely disheartening to see a contractor dump in our district and be caught on a camera where there are signs that say, ‘Please don’t dump here,’ ” Castex-Tatum said. “In no good way could I even think about awarding a contract to a contractor that felt the need to dump in the district.”

Yellowstone won the contract in a bidding process over six other companies, in part by offering the lowest price. The contract may have to be re-bid.

Houston police spokesman Kese Smith confirmed the department’s environmental crimes division is investigating the report,

but would not identify suspects or a specific incident.

The 5 Corners Management District paid for the cameras and worked with Castex-Tatum’s office to decide where to put them.

“They’re motion-activated, so they pick up activity when somebody is in the area or pulling up a truck or something like that,” said Ben Brewer, general manager of the district. “We have caught some pretty interesting footage of, you know, landscape trucks pulling up in the quiet corners of the district and off-loading their debris.”

The Texas Health and Safety Code makes it a crime to dispose of litter or other solid waste in a place that is not approved as a solid waste site. The offense could range from a Class C misdemeanor — akin to a parking ticket — or a state jail felony depending on the amount of the dumped waste and the offender. Most cases involve more than five pounds of waste, a Class B misdemeanor.

Castex-Tatum has tried to tighten enforcement of illegal dumping in southwest

Houston since taking office in 2018. In addition to the cameras, she has used a portion of her district’s service money to fund a team to respond to and clean up dump sites, patrolling on weekdays and Saturdays when needed. That team ultimately cleaned up the waste left behind by the contractor, the council member said.

She also spearheaded an ordinance passed Wednesday to regulate donation boxes, which she said have been “havens for illegal dumping” in her district.