It's not San Jose's mess, per se.
But it's now the city's problem.
State environmental and wildlife officials have filed a complaint against the city, saying that trash and other debris at homeless encampments near Coyote Creek have put the "troubled" waterway in even greater jeopardy, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The bill for violating the Clean Water Act could exceed $100,000, the newspaper reported.
The city says it lacks the resources to "adequately" remove the bicycles, buckets, clothes and other things left by its desperate denizens, according to the newspaper.
This matters not to the state, which is tired of a lack of local efforts to clean up the areas near the waterways.
In fact, the city has outright "refused" to clean up the homeless camps, according to the complaint, filed by a former San Jose police officer.
According to the newspaper, it's possible that homeless people camping "causes ecological damage similar to a factory."
San Jose has the fifth-most homeless people of any American city, the newspaper reported.
