By Blasita Lopez

The four Laredo Police Department officers who form the Litter Abatement Task Force have have taken on the daunting job of stemming illegal dumping, which is on the rise commensurate with the astounding rates of growth in all sectors of the city. As the City of Laredo experiences the biggest growth period in recorded history, so grows population, industry, traffic and housing, all of which add to increases in waste, pollution and environmental problems across the cityscape. Illegal disposal of construction materials by local builders has been especially prevalent, and of main concern is the wanton dumping of materials in the City's creeks. The problem, to the extent it has grown, is new to Laredo.
"We have documentation of this type of crime going back a few years. In 2000 alone we have handled approximately 20 environmentally oriented cases with about 150 violations accounted for the year," said Ordinance Officer Enrique Mendoza. "Each case has the potential to have multiple violations."
The Litter Abatement Task Force employs police officers working in conjunction with other City Departments to identify environmental crimes and aggressors. The Litter abatement program is intended to train more enforcement officers, increase technology, educate the public and increase communication and cooperation between all enforcement personnel throughout the City.
The task force is composed of four officers on patrol daily including Mendoza, Luis. H. Gutierrez, Sergio Reyes, Jr., and R. Robles. They have handled a myriad of cases ranging from a most recent arrest last month in north Laredo for 112 counts of environmentally related violations to less severe crimes like tossing trash out the a car window.
"We were at City Hall getting ready to pull out of the parking lot and this individual drives by and just dumps all his trash out the window, food wrappers and an empty soda cup. We pulled him over and transported him to municipal court immediately," says Mendoza of a particularly memorable case. "He was fined $225 dollars. People are so blatant, they just don't understand that these are state law violations."
Of the most recent North Laredo case the officer recounts how they arrived at the scene and immediately saw the problem.
"We could actually observe the violations in plain view from the street," said Mendoza. "The individual is being held on $560,000 bond."
Leonardo Ernesto Odoñez was arrested last month and charged with two counts of illegal dumping, two counts of unauthorized discharge and 108 counts of intentional unauthorized disposal of lead-acid batteries. This case tops the list of recent arrests and more to come. This year the Litter Abatement Task Force has several warrants to serve and more pending court approval to be served before the end of the month.
"We have a lot of work to do and together we'll get it done," said Officer Mendoza.
In other instances, officers have witnessed illegal dumping in certain areas, one in north Laredo off of McPherson across from the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center. In August 2000, a man was arrested and charged with disposal of litter for commercial purposes, a class A misdemeanor, and the vehicle was impounded. Another larger case in October 2000 included the arrest of a business owner at 8420B Las Cruces in which he was charged with a total of 22 counts. The violations include two second degree felonies for unauthorized discharge, two violations relating to a discharge or spill, 15 counts of unauthorized disposal of lead-acid batteries and three counts of illegal dumping.
As the violations continue so will the work of these officers and that of a combined Litter Abatement Task Force. The goal is to unite and solidify the City of Laredo's potential 300-person enforcement unit behind the cause, using all pertinent personnel, police and other City entities, to bring awareness to the community and aggressors to a halt.