Lehigh Acres neighbors upset about growing trash pile near homes

Reporter: Morgan Rynor Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: Photo via WINK News.

People say a neighborhood street with a dead end is a popular place to dump trash. On top of it being an eyesore, neighbors are worried the growing pile is filled with toxic, health hazards to people and the environment.

We have reported about nuisance trash plaguing neighborhoods in Lehigh Acres before, and the problem persists even though neighbors like Oscar Ridgon say they have made complaints in the past.

“We called the garbage people to come out here and pick it up, but nobody we’ve ever reported it to does anything about it,” Ridgon said.

Neighbor Katrina Hilliard is worried for her children’s safety and more.

“It’s harmful to the children, to our neighborhood, to the animals,” Hilliard said. “And I just would like to see it stopped.”

Hilliard and her daughter are sick of the mounds of trash that pile up in her Lehigh Acres neighborhood.

“She happened to see the garbage and was like ‘Mom, back up. There’s garbage,’” Hilliard said. “We tried to see what it was just by viewing, just because we weren’t going to go near it, and it looks like it was either automotive or construction garbage, and it looks like some of it was leaking, oily.”

Hilliard said it upsets her that she has to tell her kids who love to play in the woods surrounding their home to stay away because of the compounding trash pile.

“I had to explain to them that I know you’re curious and you want to look and see, but it could be potentially very dangerous,” Hilliard said.

Other neighbors like Oscar Ridgon said this is a sad reality.

“They dump everything out here,” Ridgon said. “We’ve had dead dogs dumped out here. We’ve had food, refrigerators, couches, dressers, you name it. Now, we got the trees out here.”

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