Growing dumpsite in Sunnyside now cleared days after Action 13 story aired

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A growing illegal dumpsite inside a Sunnyside neighborhood is no more.

"I like coming home and I (don't) see that pile. I was like, 'Wow!'" Terence Jefferson said.

Jefferson grew up on the 4600 block of Larkspur near Cullen and Reed. Over the past few months, he said he began watching the empty lot across the street become an illegal dumpsite - piled high with couches, carpet, shoes, and even old house phones.

The site was attracting flies and developing a funky smell.

The growing pile, spilling into the street, often forced Jefferson to physically move the junk to keep traffic flowing, but now he says, "I (don't have) to walk over there and push it out of the road (anymore)!"

He called Action 13 for help after he and three other neighbors filed complaints with the city of Houston in September.

SEE ALSO: Illegal dumping site continues to grow in Sunnyside, even after neighbors made complaints to 311

"They gave me case numbers. They said they would send somebody out here. They will have somebody call my phone and no one called my phone. But once I got y'all to come out here and look at it, boom! That's when everything happened."

Action 13 reached out to the Solid Waste Department on Tuesday for answers regarding the illegal dumpsite. Though they did clean it up, they have still not explained the lag time in their response.

"Why (do) we have to go to the media to get them to come out, and when we call 311 and nobody comes out?" Jefferson asked.

Just one street over, Action 13 spotted another growing pile of trash in front of an empty lot. We reached out to the Department of Neighborhoods regarding the site in the 4600 block of Maggie Street. A spokesperson says the newest growing pile falls under the jurisdiction of the Solid Waste Deptartment and the illegal trash site has been referred to them.

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