T’bonne toughens dumping stance

Terrebonne Parish has increased the punishment for illegally dumping trash into the area’s waterways.

It has become a common occurrence for Terrebonne Parish Public Works to find large and bulky items such as sofas, refrigerators, washing machines and toilets in those areas.

“You can imagine a sofa in a ditch and it gets to a culvert so it blocks the culvert,” Director of Public Works Lt. Col. Greg Bush said. “The problem is that we don’t know about it until something happens. Unfortunately, someone usually floods, and then we will go in there and find a chair or something.”

Violators will be fined $500 for the first offense of dumping debris. Multiple violations could result in up to 30 days in jail. There are no warnings for those who are caught littering in public ditches.

“It is usually a five-day warning. It has been changed for debris in public ditches,” Director of Planning and Zoning Pat Gordon said. “Everything ends up in these ditches. The first rain that comes along chokes everything down at the culverts. All of that debris has to be removed from the front of the culverts so the ditch can drain properly.”

Pumping stations have screen cleaners that help prevent blockage from mainly vegetation and smaller items. The cleaners will not work very well when there is a washing machine blocking the suction.

“The pumps won’t get enough suction to work properly if there is too much debris,” Gordon said. “If we did not have those pumps, we would need Gradall, a company that provides excavators, there every day.”

When the ditches cannot drain, lowland areas such as Dularge will flood, causing significant damage to homes.

“We have seen it time after time where obstructions because of debris has flooded areas,” Councilman John Navy said. “The sad part is that it costs thousands and thousands dollars of damages to people’s properties because of carelessness and irresponsibility of individuals.”

Although it has always been an issue, more frequent littering and improper disposal have led Navy to believe that the punishment should be even more for illegal dumping.

“I wanted it to be more than that. I think we should take their licenses away, just make it stricter,” Navy said. “That is fair because you could potentially cause thousands [of dollars] in damages. You never know what can happen. We need to be more proactive.”

The lack of drainage also causes a concern for public health, attracting pests such as mosquitos.

“That is always alarming because of things like the West Nile Virus,” Navy said. “Sitting water is the biggest haven for mosquitos, so now we are infringing on our residents’ health.”

Navy plans to reach out to local law enforcement agencies to patrol some of the heavily polluted areas, which can help, but it will not solve the issue.

“They do not always have the time to police our waterways,” Navy said. “They have other issues to deal with. I am hoping they can at least patrol some of the problematic areas.”

Navy hopes to get a neighborhood watch program set up outside the city limits, like the Dularge area, with the belief that it would be the most beneficial.

“Usually the neighborhood watch programs are filled with nosy neighbors, and I love nosy neighbors,” Navy said. “If they see people throwing trash, they will call it in. Those programs would be great for outside the parish.”

The ordinance has always been in place, but nothing will be solved until everyone does their part to prevent the violations, according to Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet.

“You can pass as many ordinances as you want, but they need to be enforced. That is the thing that always causes me concern,” Claudet said. “We have always had an ordinance. This basically increases the fines. It has to be enforced in order for anything to be effective.”

The surface is clear, but there is no telling what lies below as people have thrown heavy and bulky items such as washing machines and couches into drainage ditches. 

MICHAEL HOTARD | THE TIMES