Illegal dump disappearing from Fort Worth, along with massive tax break for the property owners, after CBS News Texas investigation
FORT WORTH – It sat ignored for years. Now a massive illegal dump in Fort Worth is finally being cleaned up, and that is just the beginning of the fallout from a recent I-Team investigation.
When CBS News Texas first flew over the property along Randol Mill Road in February, the debris field could be seen from the air. Hundreds of tons of shingles, tires, and other construction materials had been dumped in the heavily wooded 70-acre lot.
According to a Fort Worth police report, the city and the state have known about it since at least May 2022, when the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality investigated and ordered it to be cleaned up. Neighbors say it stayed untouched.
The I-Team dug into records and found the land is owned by the family of a former congressional candidate named Shahzad "Raja" Chaudhry. He originally denied knowing anything about the dump, even though TCEQ records show investigators spoke with him in 2022 and listed him as the owner.
This spring, through an attorney, he said his mother owned the land, but she was out of the country and too sick to deal with it.
Later, Chaudhry said he and his brothers would address the issues "even though they have no legal responsibility whatsoever."
Now, months later, the cleanup is underway. In mid-September, CBS News Texas saw several 18-wheelers hauling away debris as an excavator dug up the shingles that had been buried.
Fort Worth city council member Gyna Bivens, who helped get the cleanup started, said she feels like the owner is being held accountable, even though in her eyes, they did not do so willingly. "If you own property, you have to take care of your property," she said. "You can't say, 'well I don't live here, I own it but I don't know what's happening there."
Massive tax break disappears
For years, the owner claimed the nearly $1.4M lot was agricultural land with horses, chickens and goats. When the I-Team visited the address on multiple occasions this spring, the only sign of livestock was a pair of donkeys. A Fort Worth code compliance officer said he saw no animals on the property during the 2022 investigation, except for maybe a stray dog.
In May, This past May, the Tarrant Appraisal District scheduled an inspection of the property. Ahead of the inspection, the I-Team watched as trailers brought in several horses. The property owner told TAD the horses had been there "year round," but inspectors said the evidence didn't back up those claims. The appraisal district later revoked the agricultural exemption, meaning the property tax bill will go from less than $200 a year to potentially more than $30,000.
Horses and donkeys recovering at a rescue center
Then, there is the matter of the horses. They were brought to the land in May, but weeks later the city seized them in an animal cruelty investigation, citing concerns about access to food and water and exposure to debris at the dump.
One of the horses had given birth while living on the property, and was so sick that she had to be euthanized days after being taken into city custody. Her filly and the others now live at the 5150 Farm and Rescue in Parker County, since their original owners gave up custody.
Heide Cooper, who runs the rescue, said they worked around the clock bottle-feeding the filly, now named Teeter, until she could be weaned. The older horses were treated for cuts and scratches investigators say were caused by debris at the dump.
While the other animals will soon be up for adoption, Cooper said she is too fond of the little gray horse to give her up. "She will be staying here," Cooper said, laughing. "She will be staying here."