Community cleanup: Edinburg employees take to streets to remove debris

EDINBURG — Ana Sanchez is used to garbage piling up in the open field across from her Brenda Street home.

The field, which surrounds an irrigation ditch, has long been a target for illegal dumping, where discarded tires, couches, lawn mowers, swing sets and stoves would suddenly appear in the middle of the night.

Sometimes the garbage was tossed into the ditch; sometimes it was carelessly placed beside it for city crews to pick up.

But as part of an effort to clean the clogged irrigation districts that overflowed and led to street flooding during Hurricane Alex, Edinburg is hoping to clean up the trash problem once and for all.

“They come and pile stuff out there, but the city comes and gets it,” Sanchez said as she carried some of her own unwanted belongings from inside her home for city crews to pick up. “Maybe removing this stuff is going to prevent it from happening again.”

About a dozen city workers pulled two truckloads of garbage Wednesday from the irrigation ditch in the neighborhood near Edinburg North High School. Once the ditches were clear of debris, a mowing crew followed behind to remove overgrowth from the ditches.

But the city’s Solid Waste Department also went to each home to pick up bulk items placed out by residents, who were notified of the neighborhood cleanup via fliers. The Police Department’s community policing division also went door-to-door to warn homeowners about abandoned motor vehicles, talk to them about setting up a neighborhood watch and ask them to notify it of illegal dumping they see in the area.

The neighborhood cleanup was driven by a need to clear the clogged ditch to improve storm water drainage in the neighborhood, which had about 6-8 inches of water on Brenda Street during the hurricane, said City Engineer Isael Posadas. Other city neighborhoods with problematic drainage ditches will also be visited in the next few weeks as part of efforts by several departments.

Posadas said debris such as tires can also lead to mosquito problems because they hold water that can become a nursery for the pesky, potentially disease-carrying insects.

But to prevent people from throwing garbage into the canals again, the city’s Solid Waste Department also wanted to pick up bulk items from inside homes, said Solid Waste Director Ramiro Gomez.

Residents piled up a variety of unneeded items on the curb for the neighborhood cleanup effort. By the end of the day, the Solid Waste Department had carted away enough to cover 1 1/2 football fields under a foot of garbage.

That’s junk that might have gone in the canal.

“We should not be using our canals for dump sites,” Gomez said. “If there is trash in them, it’s going to lead to the same problems again.”

Edinburg Police Officer Balde Gomez said a cleaner neighborhood can be a safer one.

“We’re cleaning up the neighborhood in a lot of ways,” Officer Gomez said. “It’ll make a difference.”

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.