DONNA, Texas - Illegal dumping is an expensive problem that continues to grow and residents of the city of Donna say they are tired of the constant trash plague. Residents are calling on the city’s planning and public works department along with company, Knapp Home Place LLC for a sustainable solution.

Tires, refrigerators and other debris are illegally dumped on Red River Drive between North Avenue and Frontage 83 Expressway service drive. On Friday morning, Channel 5 camera crews counted four refrigerators, 11 mattresses and 39 tires along the side of the road. However, those number are a mere understatement compared to the heaps of uncountable trash off the road and onto the field.

“There’s a lot of trash in the middle of the road that you cannot even go through there. You have to go all the way around. Yeah it’s ridiculous how some people just dump their stuff in there,” Daniel Ochoa, Donna resident said.

While Channel 5 camera crews examined the scene Public Works Director, Ram De Leon and a concerned resident arrived at the scene at the same time. The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed their grievances to Director De Leon, “I’ve been calling you for over eight months,” the resident stressed. “I’ve been leaving messages with the city manager,”

Shortly after the exchange, director Ram De Leon called city secretary, Chanel Borrego to get clarification on who exactly owns the empty property field lots on Red River Drive. Borrego said the field property is owned by “Knapp Home Place LLC,” and that she made several attempts to contact them regarding the illegal dump on their property, but she had yet to receive a response.

However, in effort to keep criminals away, De Leon called his crews over immediately to remove the trash. “I’m glad these guys came over to clean, because we’ve been complaining about it for a very long time,” resident Ochoa said. Public Work crews also blocked the North and South entrance of Red River Drive for extra precaution.

City officials also made note of the price tag that came along with the clean up. De Leon says the clean up on Red River Drive will cost roughly $4,000. He says ultimately Knapp LLC would be responsible to pay for it, but rather than making residents wait for more paperwork he wanted to get the job done Friday.

We reached out to Knapp Home Place LLC and so far we have not heard back. We will continue to follow this issue and keep you up-to-date with the latest details.