Cameron County Commissioner Ernie Hernandez oversees Precinct 2, which includes Cameron Park.
A few months ago officials discovered an illegal dumping problem near a Resaca at the Colonia which they estimated was an accumulation of at least 10 years worth of trash.
It raised serious health and safety concerns, so the county immediately began the cleanup efforts.
The county’s office of emergency management sent out notices to property owners alerting them of the serious problem.
They targeted nine of the worst violators in Cameron Park and gave them 30 days to get the trash out or face the fines. The accumulated trash included tires, construction materials, wood and mattresses.
"(We’re cleaning up) one house at a time,” Hernandez said. “It's such a big project you don’t know where to start, so we're doing one house at a time."
Emergency Management Coordinator Humberto Barrera, visited one of the sites that needed to be cleaned up, Wednesday.
Progress was evident, he said, but alerted the property owner of the things yet to be resolved.
Hernandez said they won’t stop until all the mess is gone.
"We're still looking at (cleaning) the resacas, which (are) a major problem,” Hernandez said. “We're looking at areas across Cameron Park - which are major dump sites for tires - and we're going to continue the project until we finish (and) it may take another year."
Hurricane season starts June 1 and the county is keeping a close eye on the dump sites, to ensure that property get rid of the trash.
Residents in the area support the initiative because they said having so much trash around, is unsafe for children.
Hernandez said property owners have taken financial responsibility in getting rid of the trash, not the tax-payers.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT