All over the country, despite communities routinely dealing with illegal waste, when local governments and neighborhoods are able to reclaim vacant spaces, the mental health of the community improves. They found that vacant properties experiencing repeated illegal dumping in Flint, Michigan, were in the most vacant, economically vulnerable and physically deteriorated areas of the city. Hohl and colleagues also found that sites with repeat illegal dumping were also in areas that had higher densities of violent and firearm-involved crime. In 2021, a workshop at the National Academies in Washington D.C. addressed community health risks associated with exposure to waste. Tackling illegal dumping and urban blight Laney Rupp, Bernadette Hohl’s co-investigator and center manager at the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, said community interventions can and do work.

Source: ABC News February 05, 2024 10:46 UTC