It’s hard to keep track of how much waste is being illegally dumped in San Francisco, but there is a special team dedicated to finding out exactly who is responsible.
Shannon Sweeney is insanely motivated and on a mission to keep the streets of San Francisco as clean as possible.
“It’s bigger than just having some trash on the street. Areas need to be properly maintained so that everyone has equal access to them,” Sweeney said.
The 23-year-old is an illegal dumping investigator and part of the Department of Public Works’ Outreach and Enforcement team. The city of San Francisco is putting more resources into keeping sidewalks clear of trash after COVID sidelined illegal dumping investigators who enforce the rules.
Armed with plastic gloves when she has to search for evidence of perpetrators illegally dumping waste, Sweeney also enters details of new offenders into her tablet, issues citations if previous warnings have been ignored and monitors complaints.
“I’m more of an inviting person. I find it harder to enforce the law. Personally, I think education works better, but enforcement is a necessary part of what we do,” Sweeney told KPIX.
She notes that dumpsters without lids and full of waste are a violation and attract large fines, and fines can escalate quickly.
However, it starts with a warning for first-time offenders.
“We are doing enforcement on Fillmore Street,” Sweeney said.
Some charges for illegal dumping of waste can be as high as $1,000 dollars.
Parts of Bayview are hot spots for illegal dumping, but it’s a citywide problem. City staff are handing out citations, but the Department of Public Works is also highlighting a different approach to tackling a centuries-old city problem.
Ramses Alvarez oversees the waste investigation team.
“San Francisco Public Works has a lot of people cleaning up public streets, but at the end of the day it takes all of us. People need to dispose of their trash properly,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez expanded the team to include six full-time investigators after COVID shut down operations and diverted the unit to other duties. Sweeney has found that she initially takes a softer approach and works in her designated neighborhoods.
“For me, education has worked better for long-term solutions to keep a business or residents compliant in the long run,” Sweeney said.
DPW says it receives about 30 service requests per day across the city.
Researchers like Sweeney can’t reach them all.
“I feel like we’re becoming more accountable to the community. This is our city. Let’s take care of it,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney and her team hope that holding residents and businesses accountable one by one will make a dent.
Code violations have increased since COVID after numbers plummeted in 2020. But this is evident from the lack of a fully staffed unit. In 2018 there were more than 15,000 violations.
Last year that number was just over 7,000.
Kenny Choi
