- Jim Wells County residents deal with illegal dumping throughout the city and county limits.
- Residents like Pedro Gonzalez III is frustrated with the constant illegal dumping in his neighborhood.
- JWC Sgt. Jonathan Garcia has been the county's environmental officer since the beginning of the year and already has about 50 illegal dumping investigations.
Jim Wells County residents are frustrated with illegal dumping happening in their neighborhoods. Residents told KRIS 6 News that it doesn’t matter where you’re at people are dumping their trash on the side of the roads.
Pedro Gonzalez III has lived in the county for 51 years and said illegal dumping has always been an issue in his neighborhood.
“It’s a little frustrating especially cause I have to clean. Especially living right on the corner, at the intersection, right here. When they’re turning they just throw trash and it kinda blows into our yard. Now we got to go back and clean up,” Gonzalez said.
The Army veteran lives on County Road 115. He’s seen everything down the street from tires, furniture, household trash and animal carcasses.
“They dump out a lot of their pets here. I think I’ve gone through eight dogs. A lot of them are already skin and bones where they’ve been here, so, we nurture them back. We take them in and we pay for the vet bill ourselves,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the county does pick up the trash, but the road doesn’t stay clean.
JWC Sgt. Jonathan Garcia became the county’s Environmental Crimes Officer at the beginning of the year, and he’s had nearly 50 illegal dumping investigations.
“It’s a big issue. A lot of people think they can take it upon themselves to just go dump it off. (When I find the person responsible for the trash, I) give them the opportunity to come get it and also tell them the consequences of that. It’s very hard to contain this. Everybody just thinks they can go out and do whatever they want. There’s a landfill there,” he said.
Garcia has cameras throughout the county and he said residents who see illegal dumping will take pictures to help him catch those responsible.
Sgt. Garcia said Gonzalez’s road and Easterling Street are known as dumping hotspots.
“That road over there is Easterling. That’s a very, very bad road. It’s like a hotspot for them. It’s just all the time for them - I don’t know why - you will always see trash there. They just want to keep dumping there,” Garcia said.
The county does have a landfill accessible to the public, and leaders are willing to help those who need assistance in trash removal.
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