By Kevin Jefferies
Hunt County – More than 100 people showed to a public meeting hosted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to discuss a proposed sewage dump near Lone Oak. Almost all who attended the meeting Tuesday voiced their opposition to the proposal by Gustavo Ortega to create a 45 acre area to dispose of septic waste. Ortega said he is not doing anything illegal, and a spokeswoman for Ortega that lives near a similar dump said it is not raw sewage and she did not ever see it or smell it near her home.
The meeting was called by request of Representative Dan Flynn. Citizens voiced concern over the possible smell, contaminations of the water supply, health issues, and the effect on property values around the site.
The TCEQ said it would take at least month before they could answer all the questions raised at the meeting.