Detroit contractor accused of illegal dumping

A Detroit business has been accused of illegal dumping. City officials say the perpetrators were caught in the act.

According to the city’s demolition department, one of its demolition contractors working on 30^th Street noticed illegal dumping and a dump truck that was stuck in the mud at a property owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

“This particular contractor knew that the material had not been here the day before [and] alerted the field liaisons to the fact that it was not in place and we responded accordingly,” LaJuan Counts, director of the Demolition Department, tells WXYZ.

Police were later called and issued a citation against Gamboa Construction Inc.

“What you see today is a collaboration, as the director indicated, from the mayor. And it’s [direct] feedback from the community,” Detroit Police Department Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes tells WXYZ.

"They’re sick and tired of blight and Chief White has given us the charge. We will support our other city entities and [work] together to address this issue. So, those that are considering this, consider this a warning,” he adds.

In an interview with 7 Action News, Jose Gamboa, owner of Gamboa Construction, said he was hired by a man who lives nearby to pour dirt and even out the ground on the adjacent lot.

He added that his only mistake was “driving in somebody else’s lot,” noting that he and his workers got stuck when crossing over the landbank property and needed to pour a mound of dirt to lighten the load.

A demolition department spokesperson tells WXYZ it appears the second mound of dirt is on a private, residential lot, but that Gamboa shouldn’t have crossed over the land bank property, let alone dump in the first place.

The man whom Gamboa said hired his company to pour the dirt told 7 Action News he had no comment.

The demolition department said the soil is in the process of being tested to see what's in it and whether it’s hazardous.