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DOEE estimates that over 20,000 pounds of trash enter District waterbodies each year due to illegal dumping. The District of Columbia’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) interagency DumpBusters initiative is aimed at curbing illegal dumping activity that negatively affects the District’s waterbodies.
To report illegal dump sites or illegal dumping that has already occurred please call 311 or report it online. To report illegal dumping in progress call 911.
The District of Columbia is part of the Anacostia River, Rock Creek and Potomac River watersheds, inside of the larger Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Unfortunately, dumping occurs across the District, impacting all of these watersheds. To address this problem, DOEE, MPD and DPW created an interagency program called Dump Busters, to address illegal dumping. The agencies work together to identify dump sites, cleanup the debris, and enforce dumping regulations within the District.
The District addresses trash pollution via prevention, mitigation and cleanup. These strategies include litter prevention policies, education, community and engagement, trash capture in waterways, and research efforts. Dump Busters works in tandem with these other programs as a three pronged intervention, carrying out remediation and mitigation of trash impacts via dump site cleanups, building knowledge in communities via outreach and signage, and enforcing the District’s anti-dumping laws via criminal and civil fines.
To find information on the correct disposal method for trash within the District, please visit DPW’s Zero Waste program page: “What Goes Where.”
If you would like more information or to report illegal dumping that has already occurred please contact Julia Wakeling ([email protected]).