Montana Vista residents ask those celebrating Independence Day to clean up after themselves
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoan Manny Peña sat on his porch as he stared across at a desert filled with trash.
"Fourth of July is when people come and bring their fireworks. And it gets a lot worse on the street and everywhere," he said.
Peña is one of many residents in the Montana Vista area that is tired of seeing trash pile up year after year after people celebrate the Fourth of July. Residents said people leave their trash behind after going out to set off fireworks.
"The worst time to get that, on top of the regular trash we get every day that people keep dumping out here," said Ernie Lonvelin, the foreman for Montana Vista, the warehouse that takes care of cleanup all the way from Loop 375 to Hueco Tanks, all the way to Horizon City.
Lonvelin spoke to ABC-7 inside of the small warehouse, which he said was understaffed. He said the extra trash is a burden to them.
"Instead of concentrating on other stuff and do other cleanups and illegal dumping that everybody leaves behind," he said.
What's worse, Lonvelin said it poses a danger to workers during their cleanups.
"You don't know what's under there. Sometimes people have bags in there. Sometimes we found needles. We found broken glass. So when the guys pick it up, they've cut their hands. Luckily, one of the guys, the needle went right through the glove," said Lonvelin.
And the county workers aren't the only people who are impacted. Residents have to live with it.
"Especially right here, we got gas lines that run through here a lot," said Lonvelin. "And people take their fireworks then not too far away from one of the gas lines. And they tend to pop them right next to where the valves and everything else."
Due to the risks, residents and workers alike want people to clean up their own trash. However, there were other residents (none of which wanted to be identified) who contested. They said they don't mind the tradition once a year, and they liked the celebration.
ABC-7 is set to speak with another resident of the Montana Vista area to learn more about who he and his neighbors are impacted. Check back for updates.
