Harry J. Hayes, Director

Solid Waste Management Department

ZIKA Abatement & Scrap Tire

Management TxSwana Annual Conference

April 11, 2017

Mayor Sylvester Turner

1

Presentation Overview

1. What has happened?

2. What are we doing?

3. Why are we doing it?

4. Benefits of our work.

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

2 April 11, 2017

What has happened?

February 1, 2016: The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus and its suspected link to birth defects an international public health emergency.

Data from Brazil revealed that about 39 percent of 2,212 investigated cases of microcephaly confirm Zika Virus.

State of Texas Scrap Tire Program ran from 1993 – 1997. Fee per tire sold

WTRF reimbursements to: Facilities that used scrap tires

Funding for equipment

Reimburse processors

Clean up Priority Enforcement List

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO

April 11, 2017 3

Mosquito Bites

Mother to Child (Pregnancy)

Microcephaly

Severe Brain Defects

Sexual Contact

Blood Transfusion

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)

GBS symptoms include weakness of the

arms and legs that is usually the same

on both sides of the body.

"The economic cost of Zika could be very high,"

said Dr. Peter Hotez, microbiologist at Texas

Children's Hospital and dean of the National

School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of

Medicine.

CDC estimates lifetime medical cost between $1 million

and $10 million.

ZIKA Transmission & Birth Defects Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 4

The states at greatest risk are those along the Gulf Coast - Texas, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Alabama and Florida (dark red). – US Centers for Disease Control

U.S. Outbreak Risk Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 5

Overview of Texas Scrap Tires

• In calendar year 2015, over 32 million scrap tires were managed in Texas.

• Many more scrap tires produced than there are effective demand end markets;

Texas is a “free market scrap tire State” with insufficient state

oversight/inspection. Scrap Tires remain a liability in most, if not all cities and

counties.,

• Insufficient TCEQ staff assigned to program oversight.

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TCEQ Annual Scrap Tire Report

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Unauthorized scrap tire sites in Texas

The TCEQ maintains a list of known unauthorized scrap tire sites in the state. The attached illustration includes these

sites on a map of Texas along with information on the approximate quantity of tires. The number of tires at such sites

range from a few hundred to a few million, for a total of approximately 16 million tires.

Unauthorized scrap tires can broadly be categorized as:

• Newer, generally-smaller, unauthorized scrap tire piles that come to the TCEQ’s attention; and

• Legacy, generally-larger, well-documented scrap tire piles that may have been registered at one time.

Beginning February 2016, Mayor Turner directed various city agencies, including the solid waste department, to create business plans to aggressively abate potential breeding grounds for Zika carrying mosquitos.

SWMD - Abatement

HHS – Education and monitoring

DON - Enforcement

PWE – Ditch & Drainage Maintenance

Medical Services – Lead Incident Command & Medical Preparations

The efforts of SWMD and other agencies help to combat the mosquito which also transmits the West Nile virus.

What has Houston done? Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

ZIKA Abatement Program April 11, 2017

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• Use 311 Data to identify repetitive dumpsites

• Work with Council members and community

associations to target dumpsites

• Place repetitive sites on hit list of law enforcement

monitoring

• Implementation of Used/Scrap tire management

program with Zero Tolerance standard

• HHS, DON, PWE have also increased public education

and enforcement efforts to leverage the city’s

preparations

• Retrain Inspectors on the use of the 311 App

• Created new illegal dumping report to 311 App to

generate Service Requests (SRs) for Zika Abatement

Key Action Items? Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 10

Illegal Dumping Calls for Service

11 April 11, 2017

ZIKA Abatement Efforts

Nearly 40,000 Tires collected in 10 months

Total illegally dumped tires collected in Zika abatement efforts

February 2016 – June 2016

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017

Tires collected DateDistrict(s)

servedNW SE NE SW Total

Week 1 13-Feb-16 D - 300 1,920 - 2,220

Week 2 22-Feb-16 I - 1,020 1,200 - 2,220

Week 3 29-Feb-16 B 360 1,020 1,200 - 2,580

Week 4 5-Mar-16 B 300 2,460 1,440 720 4,920

Week 5 12-Mar-16 H 300 300 - 720 1,320

Week 6 19-Mar-16 K 300 300 - - 600

Week 7 2-Apr-16 F & J 300 - - - 300

Week 8 9-Apr-16 E & B 300 1,740 300 720 3,060

Week 9 16-Apr-16 A -

Week 10 23-Apr-16 Various -

Week 11 30-Apr-16 Various -

Week 12 7-May-16 B - - - - -

Week 13 14-May-16 I - 1,800 - - 1,800

Week 14 21-May-16 K - - - - -

Week 15 28-May-16 Various -

Week 16 4-Jun-16 F - - - - -

Week 17 11-Jun-16 I 120.0 52.0 172

Total (weeks 1 - 17) 1,860 9,060 6,112 2,160 19,192

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Scrap Tire Regulation

OVERVIEW OF SCRAP TIRE

PROGRAM

To combat the illegal dumping of scrap

tires within the City of Houston, the

Scrap Tire Ordinance was passed

unanimously by City Council in October

2015.

Many more scrap tires produced than

there are effective end markets within the

city or region.

Estimated to be more than 5,000 scrap tire

vendors in Houston’s city limits.

Poor commercial knowledge of state or

local regulations.

Lots of illegal activity to avoid disposal

costs.

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017

Specifics of Chapter 39

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Open storage of tires prohibited; nuisance

Tires must be secured, stacked, organized

Registration required for tire generator For record keeping/documentation purposes

Annual $27.95 admin fee; plus registration fee of $66.95

Total of $94.90

Permit required for tire transport Name, address, contact information, business

occupation, appropriate decals on vehicles

Annual $27.95 admin fee; plus permit fee $173.86, this fee includes a set of stickers for 1 vehicle

$43.74 per additional vehicle

Total $201.81

Tires must be manifested and records will be inspected routinely.

ZIKA Abatement – Scrap Tire Program

OVERVIEW OF SCRAP TIRE PROGRAM

Over 2,000 business have been registered as either a Scrap Tire Generator or Transporter within the City limits

Illegal Scrap Tires businesses and illegal dumping are closely related

Nearly 400 legal notices and citations issued since July 1, 2016

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 15

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ZIKA Abatement Efforts

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Mayor Sylvester Turner and members of the Houston

State Legislative delegation petitioned the governor

for state funds to fight the ZIKA virus.

SWMD has received more than $1 million in federal

grants to combat illegal dumping in CDBG zones.

$540K in March 2016

$500K in January 2017

The City Health Department has also received

several million in federal grants for research and

education efforts.

Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 16

Questions? Harry Hayes, Director Sylvester Turner, Mayor

April 11, 2017 17