CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Some Corpus Christi residents might notice large brush and bulky items taking a little longer to be picked up this year.
The city said that a large volume in the first few areas it picks up from is causing a delay.
Corpus Christi Solid Waste Services said Areas 1-A and 1-B saw at least 400 total loads of items collected since late May.
Solid waste services said 16,000 cubic yards have been collected so far in Areas 1-A and 1-B. That's higher than average, with the total amount usually about 80% of that. Corpus Christi Assistant Director of Solid Waste Paul Bass said the city is still collecting from Area 2, despite Wednesday being the first day for Area 3-A residents to set out their bulky items.
"Some years are more heavy and sometimes the spring might be a heavier time of year for those bulky collections," he said.
Joe Kramer, Flour Bluff Citizen's Council president, said a potential cause of the high volume of large brush and bulky items is illegal dumping—a recurring issue in the area for decades.
"There was three different occasions that I saw in the last month of contractors and people that obviously didn't live right next door dumping out here because of the large right of way," he said.
Kramer said thanks to Flour Bluff residents reporting illegal dumping to code and law enforcement, it can be minimized. There are also now signs and barriers preventing people from doing it in places where it used to be common.
"Out here in Flour Bluff, we have a lot of pride in our community. People aren't going to tolerate it," he said. "They see somebody dumping stuff illegally, it's kind of obvious most of the time. They'll take pictures of them, get license plate numbers."
Bass said he's confident that as collections continue, they will catch up as workers add two more days to their workweek on Fridays and Saturdays. Including Area 2, he said it could be at least 25,000 cubic yards of bulky items and large brush collected since late May.
Those bulky items include appliances, old furniture, car tires, and more. As for the brush, Bass says that could be from the amount of rain we got this spring.
"If there's any wiggle room, it would be a day delay, but we would be caught up by the end of the collection cycle for 3-A, for sure, and be back on track," he said.
Collections for Area 3-A begin on June 26, with the set-out period for residents scheduled for June 21-25.
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