Army Engineers Fail to Clean Creek, Says Compton Official

A Compton councilwoman charged Friday that the federal agency responsible for maintaining the channel where nearly two dozen dead or injured animals have been found has failed to keep it clean, which has encouraged illegal dumping that now poses health risks.

“While recent reports of dogs being thrown into Compton Creek have generated stories about animal abuse that incensed animal rights activists, there is a . . . story that is not being told,” said City Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux, who lives three houses from the channel.

“It’s a story about the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to keep Compton Creek environmentally and physically safe for Compton residents,” Arceneaux said.

From her home she can see the bridge where at least one dog has been reported to have been dropped about 35 feet, a report animal control officers were still trying to confirm Friday.

“What is even more tragic is what has led people to believe that it’s OK to throw dogs into the creek in the first place,” she said.

Neither a spokesman for the corps’ Los Angeles office nor the contact person Arceneaux said she has worked with recently could be reached Friday.

Addressing previous complaints by Arceneaux, the corps spent $500,000 for a one-time major cleanup, and twice yearly it cleans the concrete channel that runs through several south county cities, including Compton.

A staggering amount of household and chemical litter lines the ditch that feeds into the Los Angeles River and then the ocean.

On Friday, animal control found an injured dog at the bridge level inside the creek’s fencing that appeared to have been struck by a car. Its injuries required that it be euthanized, animal control spokeswoman Kaye Michaelson said.

On Thursday, 19 animals--all but three of them dead--were found by 10 animal control officers searching the channel.

Arceneaux said illegal pit bull fights and cockfights that have “been a problem for a while in the city” may account for some of the dead animals. Owners would not call animal control to pick up a carcass for fear of being caught, so they would discard them in the drainage ditch.

But Arceneaux said that is all the more reason for the Army Corps of Engineers to do a better job of maintaining the creek bed.

“It’s a health threat . . . and the kids use the shoulder . . . as a shortcut to school,” she said.

Several schools front the creek, which is lined with concrete in some parts and soft soil in others. Some chain-link fencing blocks access, but Arceneaux said several stretches are open to the public.

The condition of Compton Creek has been a problem for more than 15 years, said Arceneaux, who has been on the council for eight years. “I am convinced,” she added, “that it is because this is in a minority community that the corps feels it can . . . continue to skirt responsibility to keep the creek clean.”