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City crews clean up sewage dumping in the Venice area | Photo by Yo! Venice
Looks like an unofficial public health alert issued by a blog on Monday has gotten the attention of city officials. Last night police cleared some streets in the Venice area, making room for sanitation officials to clean sewage -- including human waste -- allegedly dumped by RV dwellers. One arrest was also made.
One of the cleanups that took place Tuesday night prompted police to instruct up to 15 RV dwellers to leave the block of 3rd Street between Rose and Sunset avenues, according to Yo! Venice, which called attention the sewage dumping issue on Monday.
"In the past RV Dwellers 'sneakily' emptied their septic tanks directly down the storm drains," explained Bret at Yo! Venice, "these days they are taunting homeowners and renters by dumping their human waste directly into the streets," he said, noting a recent California Coastal Commission ruling that was cheered by RV dwellers and frowned upon by Los Angeles officials who filed a lawsuit.
A 28-year-old woman was arrested on an illegal dumping charge, according to the Daily Breeze. Lindsey Estilette apparently removed her sewage tank's cap and drove her RV away spilling sewage on the street. A witness reported the vehicle's license plate and description to police.
For background on the Venice's RV population, KCET summed it up nicely in 2009.