LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council moved forward with a plan today to address the problem of human waste being dumped onto streets by recreational vehicles through increasing the availability of RV pumping facilities.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion last year which brought attention to the issue, noting that the 2017 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority homeless count found 2,363 RVs on the streets of the city. But with no public facilities with RV dump stations in the San Fernando Valley and only two in the entire city, Blumenfield said his district has seen a rise in the number of incidents involving the illegal discharge of hazardous waste from RVs onto streets and sidewalks.
``This is an issue of public health,'' Blumenfield said after introducing the motion in 2017.
``This motion is about exploring solutions to clean our streets and make sure that the city is doing everything possible to stop illegal dumping.''On a 10-0 vote, the City Council directed the Bureau of Sanitation to identify funding of $150,000 from the general fund for construction costs for two permanent city RV disposal stations to be located at two city maintenance yards in the San Fernando Valley, and to identify funding of $50,000 for two maintenance workers.
The council also directed the Bureau of Sanitation to continue searching citywide for one or two additional sites to be used as city RV disposal stations, and to establish a $26,000 voucher program with four private RV disposal stations for individuals living in RVs who are enrolled in services for housing placement.
The program would cover the cost of 20 RVs per week for a year, according to a report from the Bureau of Sanitation.