South L.A. alleys have been plagued by illegal dumping. | Daina Beth Solomon
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced last week a new task force that will focus on removing waste that is illegally dumped on streets, in alleys and in the L.A. River. The task force will also prosecute offenders.
Along with ten other agencies, the L.A. city attorney’s office is identifying nine chronic dumping spots around the city, including South Los Angeles. They hope to clean up the sites and help communities develop enforcement strategies such as putting cameras in alleyways and encouraging residents to call when they see illegal dumping.
Listen to Feuer’s announcement in a story for Annenberg Radio News:
On a 12-1 vote, the Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to completely redo the way it disposes of garbage from apartment complexes and businesses in a hope to clean up a situation that some people think is stinky.
South LA residents determined to hold big banks accountable for cleaning up local communities, delivered trash from a vacant foreclosed home to BNY Mellon, one of LA’s largest holders of foreclosed properties. The action was held ahead of the LA City Council’s scheduled vote on amendments to improve enforcement of city’s blight ordinance. 
LA has a blight ordinance that allows the city to collect $1,000 a day from banks that do not maintain their foreclosed homes. To date, LA has failed to collect a single dime from banks violating the law – a lost opportunity to hold irresponsible banks accountable and collect money to rebuild our neighborhoods.
Activists collected trash from a home in dangerous disrepair on Wilmington Avenue in the Watts area and delivered three full bags to BNY Mellon’s lobby. 
