Some Residents Uneasy About Living Next To Junkyards
EL PASO — As the city grows east, more and more homes are being built right next to junkyards. Residents who live near them say those unkempt areas pose a health or safety threat.
Juan de la Cruz and his family have lived just down the street from the junkyard for about a year. Their house is within city limits, but nearby junkyard is in the county where zoning rules aren’t so strict.
“When we moved here, they were already in that place,” de la Cruz said.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gets involved when there is an environmental issue,” said spokeswoman Andrea Morrow.
Morrow says she keeps tabs on many junkyards around the state because they have to get licences, but she says theTCEQ can’t investigate thosewithout a license merelyif a complaint suggests they shouldn’t have been allowed to open in the first place, Morrow said.
A complaint might be filed when someone sees water that’s polluted, or there’s an unpleasant odor, or they are worried about ground contamination,”she said.
In most cases, something has to go wrong environmentallybefore any symptom is recognized.
Those who live near a junkyard and think they’re being unsafely operated, theTCEQ has a 24-hour reporting hotline for residents to use: 1-888-777-3186.
