DONNA – An illegal dump is too close to a grove near Donna and it is worrying citrus experts.

The dump site is on Goolie Road north of Donna.

Saul Alvarado and his mother live a block away from the discarded items from construction projects, mattresses and even dead animals.

Alvarado worries it makes the place they call home look bad.

“I think my community needs improvement. My community needs more help,” he said.

Alvarado said he heard the dump will be gone but nothing seems to happen.

“They clean it sometimes but it always goes back to the way it was,” he said.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS showed Dale Murden, president of Texas Citrus Mutual, how close the dump is to a grapefruit grove. He said the items could damage the fruit.

“We have a fruit fly issue right now. That can cause larvae in the fruit which is a serious issue for us. It’s just a breeding ground for problems,” Murden said.

He added fruit flies can devastate local growers and destroy crops.

“In our case it would be unusable to the public if it found its way in the fruit. Then we couldn’t harvest and that puts us out of business,” he said.

Murden added Texas growers experienced fruit fly flare-ups recently.

He said the illegally dumping problem is an issue Valley wide. He said that it is up to residents to report illegal dumping so that it can be cleaned up and stopped in the future.

Report Illegal Dumping:

Precinct One - 956-447-3775

Precinct Two - 956-784-3510

Precinct Three - 956-581-6800

Precinct Four -  956-383-3112