BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The City of Bellingham is taking action in an effort to clear a massive homeless encampment.
A civil lawsuit has been filed against Erwin Rommel, the owner of an undeveloped lot on Deemer Road where dozens of transient individuals have been living.
Court documents state that city officials inspected the property in October and found heaps of trash, abandoned vehicles, rodents, and used drug paraphernalia.
The junk has been spilling over into neighbors’ yards and nearby Baker Creek has been contaminated by human waste.
An overdose death was also reported at the encampment in October.
Bellingham Police officers later recovered nearly 2,000 fentanyl pills and a firearm from a vehicle on the property.
City officials are hoping the lawsuit will allow them to clear the property, at the expense of Rommel.
Rommel has not responded to the lawsuit or any correspondence that the city has sent him.