Piles of trash cascade down a hillside near a creek on a property off West Lawson Road in far southeast Dallas. It's something that Kim Roulias says makes her want to cry.
Her family has owned the property, which includes Stark Lake, for years.
"I grew up here as a small child. I was three years old, [and] my earliest recollection was being down here fishing with my dad," Roulias said. "This is where all the family would congregate and we would make fish fries and just hang out and go fishing."
The lake that sits on the property is part of the history of the area, according to Roulias. At one time, Stark Lake served as a catfish farm.
"People in the community would pay to come in and fish, catch fish and take them home and we would also sell catfish to restaurants," Roulias said.
Nobody currently lives on the property but family still returns to picnic and fish. They have battled trash there for a while, but nothing like what they discovered recently.
"Well, we noticed a little bit probably about a year ago, maybe a little bit longer," Roulias said. "We noticed people dumping a pile of trash. We didn't know what to do about it, so it wasn't that big of an issue."
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But, that soon changed.
"When I came down here a couple weeks ago, I hadn't been here probably six months or a year. It was very disappointing to see the great quantity of trash that people had dumped."
Everything from furniture, to dozens of tires, a TV, roofing and construction materials, art projects, shoes and everyday bags of trash now fill a concentrated section of the property.
"A lot of people just have no respect," Roulias said.
"No trespassing" signs are posted, and the area is fenced with locked gates, but it hasn't stopped it.
"Yes, they stole the gate," Roulias said. "We're about to put up a gate that nobody is going to be able to take down."
Roulias reached out to the city by calling 311 and contacted her local city council member. The Dallas Marshal's office has sent a marshal to the property a couple of times, which Roulias praises, but says she was told cleanup is her responsibility.
She estimates it will cost thousands of dollars and result in numerous truckloads of trash. It's why she was hoping the city or other environmental agencies could help.
"One way or another it's going to get cleaned up. If we have to pay for it, we will find a way to pay for it," Roulias said.
She notes it's not the city or the county's fault, but was hoping for any kind of help regarding the mess now piled on her property.
NBC 5 reached out a city of Dallas spokesperson Tuesday who said existing material dumped on private property is the property owner's responsibility, but the city will do what it can to help in its capacity, including the possibility of placing a surveillance camera in the area to catch or deter illegal dumpers.
Roulias said the family is working to put in more security as well.
"We had a video camera, a game camera to see wildlife. They stole that," she said.
The city has been fighting to stop illegal dumping. On Dec. 1, the city announced plans to deal with the growing problem, identifying about 60 to 70 so-called chronic dumping sites. Roulias' property is not on that list.
If caught, illegal dumpers could be fined $2,000 and face significant jail time.
The city wants people who need to get rid of unwanted objects to call 311 rather than dump illegally.
