The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit surveyed a section of downtown San Francisco to determine the amount of feces, hypodermic needles, and garbage littering the heart of the city. The results reveal a disgusting and potentially deadly mix of contamination that experts now believe could exceed some of the dirtiest slums in the world. Investigative reporter Bigad Shaban reports on a story that first aired Feb. 18, 2018.
The city of San Francisco hands out millions of syringes a year to drug users but has little or no controls over how they are later discarded and that's contributing to dirty streets that have become the source of hundreds of complaints.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Thursday that the city distributes an estimated 400,000 syringes a month through various programs aimed at reducing HIV and other health risks for drug users.
About 246,000 syringes are discarded through the city's 13 syringe access and disposal sites. But many of the more than 150,000 end up littering streets, parks and other spots.
San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell says 10 workers whose sole responsibility will be to clean up needles will start in June.
Syringes discarded in public places is a nationwide problem amid growing heroin use.
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Watch the entire series of this NBC Bay Area investigation:
- Part 1: Dangerous Mix of Trash, Needles, Feces Found in Downtown SF
- Part 2: Investigation into SF's Diseased Streets Goes Viral
- Part 3: SF Man Steps on Hypodermic Needle, Demands Action
- Part 4: San Francisco's 'Clean Streets' Plan Gets Messy
- Part 5: Empty Shops Rising in San Francisco, 'Dirty Streets' Partly to Blame
- Part 6: SF Mayor Vows to Veto $1.1 Million 'Street Cleaning' Plan
- Part 7: San Francisco's $65 million 'Street Cleaning' Budget Raises Concerns
- Part 8: SF Mayor Targets Dirty Streets with $12.8 Million Cleanup Plan
- Part 9: SF Prepares to Open Nation's First Supervised Injection Center
- Part 10: SF's "Dirty Streets" Scare Off Long-time Convention
- Part 11: SF Paid Firm $400k for Data Claiming City is Nearly Spotless
- Part 12: SF Mayor says City is Cleaner Under Her Administration, Despite Rising Complaints
- Part 13: San Francisco Sidewalks Graffitied with what Looks Like Feces
- Part 14: How Do You Picture San Francisco?
- Part 15: San Francisco's Street-Cleaning Trucks Overloaded, Unsecured
- Part 16: State Investigators Question Employees at SF Public Works
- Part 17: SF Public Works Fined for Safety Violations
- Part 18: SF to Investigate Safety Concerns Inside City's Street-Cleaning Program
- Part 19: SF Street-Cleaning Crew Still Overloading Trash Trucks
