Princeton Residents Want Dump Site Cleaned Up

Residents of a Princeton neighborhood near Highway 380 want a nearby illegal dumping site cleaned up.

Christy Wallace, who has lived in her home for about a year and a half, said she found tires, pieces of sheet metal, car parts and even car seats in the field beyond her property when she investigated why so many mosquitoes were around her property.

"There are tires that are just right over my back fence," Wallace said.

Her next-door neighbor, Beth Jones, who has an infant and small child, said she has stopped letting her 3-year-old son, Kyler, play in the backyard for fear of what kind of critters the dump site is attracting.

"Snakes are a big concern," she said. "I can't even let him go out there because in five minutes, he probably had 20 mosquito bites."

Wallace said she confirmed with county officials that the area is an illegal dump site.

Three trailer loads of debris were carted off last week, but Wallace said she is concerned about chemicals running onto her property.

Wallace said her two dogs got staph infections in their feet over the past year.

"I think this is a toxic issue," she said.

Wallace and Jones said they worry future neighborhoods could soon face similar problems as Collin County develops. Other illegal dumping sites may be exposed as the area becomes more densely populated, they said.

"If you're going to encourage people to move into an area, it's irresponsible to keep things the way they were and just bury it," Wallace said.

Other residents in the subdivision said they have also seen problems with trash and concrete in nearby empty lots.

But they also said the city of Princeton recently cut foot-high overgrown grass in some areas after complaints.