West El Paso residents angry over trash pile-up, city seeking solutions

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Camila Romero has lived in her West El Paso neighborhood for 50 years, and in all that time, she's watched trash pile up across the street time and time again.

"Every time it rains, all that trash gathers at the gully," said Romero. "Nobody has ever come to look at the trash and pick it up. It's awful."

Romero's frustration has grown for decades, and in that time, her and her neighbors have grown older. According to her, this makes it more difficult to clean the trash up -- something that has been left to the residents surrounding Turney Drive and O'Keefe Drive.

"Mr. Antiveros, who lives a couple of houses (down), he's in his 70s. He came and picked up all the trashcans and line them up so that we could pick them up," said Romero.

Now, Romero is saying enough is enough.

"The city-men, I want them to come and take care of their district," said Romero. "They earn money, and we're elderly people who hardly make ends meet. So it's about time that they took care of their district."

ABC-7 reached out to a city spokeswoman and EPWU for answers. We'll bring you their answers as we get them.

District 8 City Representative Chris Canales presides over Romero's neighborhood and says the city does not directly manage or oversee storm water operations, but he encourages his constituents to reach out to his office with any concerns.

Canales says, despite not being directly in charge of these types of concerns, he wants to seek solutions.

"The Mission Hills Neighborhood Association, which has been dormant for several years, is now becoming active again and had its first meeting last night, which I was happy to attend. I will consult with the new MHNA board about this issue to make sure it is getting taken care of properly," said Canales.

While other neighbors appreciate the effort, some say they feel the city has bigger problems.