ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Some residents are calling on Orange County to clean up a former illegal dump between Big Sand Lake and Little Sand Lake.
Residents said a bizarre land bridge was built by the junk, and it caused an unnatural separation between the two lakes.
When WFTV's Lori Brown looked into the old dump site, she found some new concerns.
John Jennings chairs the Big Sand Lake Advisory Board. Jennings said the recent removal of an invasive species of tree revealed just how much trash is sitting between the two lakes.
Jennings pointed out pieces of debris at the site, such as pieces of a railroad trestle, an old washing machine, and remnants of a Coke machine.
"The remnants of a dump. A dump that was probably here from the 1930s to the 1970s. Code enforcement estimates this pile of junk is 60 feet wide 120 feet long and 15 feet high," Jennings said.
Jennings said the junk is standing between what should be a natural connection between the two lakes.
"That land bridge more than likely was created to get from one point to another," Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd said.
Boyd said there are environmental concerns.
"It is an issue, especially in the event the water breaches that land bridge and flows through it," Boyd said.
Boyd said the environmental protection division and code enforcement are looking into what options the county has to clean up the dump.
All of this is on private property, so the owner, who lives out of the country, could be responsible for the problem dumped here decades ago.
"Here's a thing that kind of bothers me. I see a pair of 12-inch pipes, and I don't know what was in them," Jennings said.
WFTV tried to contact the property owner, but neither we nor the county could locate that company.
WFTV
