Council will address illegal electric scooter, trash dumping in lakes and rivers

AUSTIN, Texas - A new resolution has been passed by Austin City Council that that will direct the City of Austin to take a closer look at what is causing the waterways to become polluted. It's not hard to spot someone zooming across town on an electric scooter. However, what happens to those scooters, when they get done getting used?  

“Sometimes we hear reports that people are upset about scooters or they are upset about where they are parking them, and they are pushing them into the creek, please don't do that,” said Kathie Tovo, Austin City Council member for district nine.

Councilmember Paige Ellis sponsored a resolution to direct the city manager to put together a study, on how the city can improve Austin's waterways and keep them clean and safe. This would include scooter and trash dumping.

Scooter dumping appears to be a big problem. Last year Fox 7 Austin spotted crews picking up scooters out of Lady Bird Lake.

“That could have a leaking battery seeping into our clean water. Scooters qualify under illegal dumping the way someone takes a hazardous material and dumps it into a storm drain,” said Paige Ellis, district eight.

The Shoal Creek Conservancy is one of the environmental agencies on board because of their stakes.

“Shoal Creek used to be the site of popular swimming spots and fishing holes but today poor water quality and environmental quality make it unsafe to play in the water,” said Ivey Kaiser, executive director at the Shoal Creek Conservancy.

“You may walk up to a creek and think that it's clean, but when you start looking at cigarette butts and bottle caps we pulled out lots and lots of trash that may not even be visible,” said Ellis.

Ellis ran for office with an environment protection platform, however, there is now a petition to recall her. We spoke with Tim Altanero who lives in her district, he said Ellis needs to be paying attention to homeless camps popping up.

“It distracts from the fact that you can walk under an underpass and walk into rats and needles, human feces, and dangerous individuals. Why are you concerned about a scooter being dumped in the river when you can't cross the street without being accosted?” said Dr. Tim Altanero, district eight resident.

“I agree they shouldn't be living on greenbelts, I don’t think that's a safe space for them,” said Ellis.

Ellis said she is committed to the homeless getting the proper resources.

“I’m an environmentalist through and through. We can't magically make everything disappear out of our watersheds but I’m leading an effort to change that,” said Ellis.