MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Trash, including glass, garbage and tires, line the streets of Castalia Heights, and residents are tired of it.
“It just infuriated me that it’s in our neighborhood,” said resident Earnest Nash. “I saw over here someone had put some more junk over here that was out of their household, and so now my fear is that in our neighborhood, we’re about to become another dump site.”
The pile of tires is never-ending in an empty lot on the corner of Dunn Ave and W E Freeman. There is a legal dump site specifically for tires less than three miles away on Elvis Presley. However, people are still dumping tires illegally and in a predominantly black neighborhood.
This is something Nash said wouldn’t happen in Overton Square or Downtown. The City of Memphis’ Public Work Director, Robert Knecht, said it’s a crime.
“Aggravated criminal littering is a felony under state law, so that means you’re much more liable to be prosecuted under that statute,” Knecht said.
City leaders are working to do whatever they can to intervene.
“Typically, you see people repeatedly reuse locations for the same illegal dumping activities, so we put up covert cameras at dump site,” Knecht said.
While there are consequences, Nash knows the city can’t stop everyone. On the other hand, he’s hopeful residents or the city start using this area for good.
“Let’s develop this area into something,” Nash said. “Let’s put some housing over here. Let’s do another park over here. Let’s do something to make this area more viable to where people won’t come here and dump stuff.”
Redeveloping the area is going to take a lot of community and planning, but Nash said he’s ready for it, especially if it means revitalizing where he calls home.