Tons of garbage dumped on Oakland streets

City Councilman Noel Gallo (right) and a team of volunteers picks up trash dumped on Champion Street in Oakland. City Councilman Noel Gallo (right) and a team of volunteers picks up trash dumped on Champion Street in Oakland. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Tons of garbage dumped on Oakland streets 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

An old mattress in East Oakland. Paint cans in West Oakland. A couch on International Boulevard.

They tell a tale that's been spun for years in Oakland - people leaving their garbage wherever they want, and the city waging a Sisyphean struggle to fix the issue.

Last year, public works employees picked up 1,624 tons of junk and received 11,500 calls for cleanup.

"The more we pick it up, the more it seems to come out," said Kristine Shaff, a public works agency spokeswoman.

The city has tried all sorts of tactics to stop the problem at its core, including busting offenders. Most recently, the City Council passed a measure to classify illegal dumping as a misdemeanor rather than an infraction.

Cracking down, though, has always been complicated. In 2001, the city employed litter enforcement officers to try to find clues on dumped receipts and documents, but had difficulty pinpointing culprits.

The same went for efforts to use surveillance footage to capture the license plates of cars involved in the dirty deed. In a courtroom, the city found, it's tough to prove that a car's registered owner is the person who left a moldy sofa by the railroad tracks.

In any event, city officials say the problem can't be solved by punishment alone.

"It's not an individual issue, it's not a criminal issue - it's a social issue," Shaff said. "Somehow people have decided in their own mind that it's OK for them to leave their garbage for everyone else. That's the issue. It's not about who's picking it up and who's throwing it down and who's getting prosecuted."

Shaff said she believes a few bad apples drive the bulk of the problem - and just don't understand the harm they cause.

A more lasting approach may be education, and Councilman Noel Gallo said he hopes his weekly neighborhood cleanups will help in that regard.

Since he was elected 11 months ago, he's been taking teams of volunteers into various neighborhoods every Saturday to pick up trash.

Not only do the forays aid public works in its endless cleanup, but the heaps of stinking sacks, soiled furniture and broken appliances serve as an eye-opener for volunteers, Gallo said.

"When you live in it, after a while you don't see it and you tolerate it," he said.

But when people have to engage with the garbage and pick it up with their hands, it strikes home. "Everyone who comes for the first time," he said, "can't believe what's on the street."

If the message can reach young people, Gallo said, "maybe we'll start to build a community that will look at trash a little different."

What's not working Issue: People have been illegally dumping garbage around Oakland for years. What's been done: City officials have tried many different tactics, including focusing on bringing charges against dumpers, but have seen few results. The city's public works agency will continue responding to each report of garbage, but say they believe the issue is more social and educational than anything else. City Councilman Noel Gallo hopes his weekly cleaning efforts will help educate youth about the effects of dumping. Whom to contact: Kristine Shaff, spokeswoman for the Oakland public works agency - (510) 615-5566, pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo - (510) 238-7005, ngallo@oaklandnet.com