Brownsville residents upset at trash filled resaca

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Brownsville woman reported for years a resaca near her home has been riddled with trash.

Elizabeth Caro had been documenting the trash for years. She said she has reached out to the city of Brownsville to get the issue resolved but has not seen any results.

“I tried to contact the city. I tried to talk to the Mayor, the City Manager, also Commissioners. Because it’s time for us to do something to protect the wildlife," Caro said.

Caro is particularly concerned about the migratory birds that come to the area and make the resaca their home.

“The wildlife is protected by state and federal laws, and this area receives migratory birds," Caro said. "As you’ve seen before, many of these birds swim in here trying to find food sources. They end up eating trash or drinking contaminated water.”

ValleyCentral visited the area on Wednesday and a lot of the trash and debris Caro had seen was gone. However, this was not because the area had been cleaned up. Heavy rains in the area Tuesday night had washed it away.

“We have a lot of lakes, resacas, and there’s birds everywhere. So, the contamination is not only here, it’s everywhere in the canal, ending in the ocean," said Caro.

With the low water levels all across the Rio Grande Valley, Caro said it makes her sad to see the water near her home so polluted.

Caro described herself as an environmental activist and said she's participated in other trash cleanup projects throughout the community. She doesn't understand why it falls to individuals to do that work and thinks the city should take responsibility for those efforts.

“I don’t understand why the city doesn’t enforce laws, severe laws to protect the environment, and give penalties to people to protect the water sources," she said.

We contacted the city of Brownsville to comment on this story, but they have not gotten back to us.