{"id":446290,"date":"2026-09-24T14:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446290\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:08:11","slug":"lasagna-layer-of-garbage-volunteers-remove-43000-pounds-from-elm-cove-pond-in-northeast-bexar-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/446290\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Lasagna layer of garbage\u2019: Volunteers remove 43,000 pounds from Elm Cove Pond in northeast Bexar County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">BEXAR COUNTY, Texas \u2013 A half-acre of land tucked between Walzem and Old Seguin roads in northeast Bexar County has been an eyesore for years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">People living in the area may be happy to know that the site may soon be trash- and debris-free.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">The property, located near 7715 Elm Cove Drive outside Converse, backs up to a neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Volunteers with River Aid San Antonio said the site was filled with years\u2019 worth of debris, including mattresses, a couch, a barbecue pit and other large items.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cFor all of us, this was kind of a shock,\u201d said Vic Gomez, operations manager for River Aid San Antonio. \u201cWhen we first came here, we were walking through a lasagna layer of garbage that had accumulated over several years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">The property is in Bexar County Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert\u2019s precinct.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Libby Day, Calvert\u2019s chief of staff, said residents had complained about the dumping hotspot for years, but the county struggled because officials couldn\u2019t contact the property owner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cThis was formerly an encampment for folks who were suffering from homelessness,\u201d Day said. \u201cAnd one of the challenges with this site was the county was unable to get in contact with the property owner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Day said that issue has since been resolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">With the property owner\u2019s consent, the Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office can now address illegal trespassing and dumping at the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">She said the county also worked with Haven for Hope to connect people who had been staying there with services and resources before enforcement began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cWe did a lot of outreach with Haven for Hope, made sure folks got connected with services and resources,\u201d Day said. \u201cIf they wanted to go to Haven, there were beds for them, and once that outreach took place, then enforcement started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">The county initially received a quote of $100,000 in taxpayer money to clean up the property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Day said that would have been more than half of the county\u2019s total abatement budget.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">That\u2019s where River Aid San Antonio stepped in to help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">During four cleanup events, about 170 volunteers removed 43,000 pounds of trash from the property.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">\u201cWe\u2019ve had a good handful of the neighbors come out to help us clean, and I think they\u2019re very excited to help us make that difference,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">River Aid San Antonio has one final cleanup planned from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 7. Volunteers can meet the team at 7715 Elm Cove Drive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Read also:<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEXAR COUNTY, Texas \u2013 A half-acre of land tucked between Walzem and Old Seguin roads in northeast Bexar&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[39976,128849,634,1006,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-446290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-converse","tag-litter","tag-northeast-side","tag-outdoors","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}