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Abandoned trailer park turned into dumping ground

5 years 10 months 1 week ago Tuesday, May 08 2018 May 8, 2018 May 08, 2018 7:00 PM May 08, 2018 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - An abandoned trailer park has turned into a dumping ground for household items, car parts, among other things.

The property makes up about seven acres of land at the southwest corner of Prescott Road and Victoria Drive near Airline Highway. Google Maps identifies it as Merrydale Drive, but the East Baton Rouge tax assessor's office says it's a private drive.

No one lives there anymore after the area flooded in 2016. That part of town attracted about eight feet of water. People who live and work in the area are disgusted by the dumping and abandoned trailers.

It's what Debbie White sees on her way to work every day.

"It hasn't changed," she said. "I just want it cleaned up."

White says she's not only tired of looking at the mess, she's sick from smelling it and scared to drive through it. There's broken glass in the streets and old tires laying in the way. Some of the items have been there for months, others for days.

But White says it wasn't always like this.

"There was trash but nothing compared to this," she said.

A sign in the area says it was once called Flares Mobile Home Park. A few trailer skeletons remain, but they're either charred from catching fire, rotting, or stripped of all metals.

Tuesday, 2 On Your Side spoke with the property owner. Woodlawn Investments, Inc. says the land is currently being leased by a real estate company but the trailer park has had trouble reopening since the flood. That lease isn't up until 2020. Woodlawn Investments, Inc. says it did not know the property had become a dumping ground and hadn't been by to see the area for quite some time.

Woodlawn Investments, Inc. says it is looking to sell the property and it has an interested buyer.

White says she fears people will continue to dump unwanted belongings until it's cleaned.

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