Harry J. Hayes, Director
Solid Waste Management Department
ZIKA Abatement & Scrap Tire
Management TxSwana Annual Conference
April 11, 2017
Mayor Sylvester Turner
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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