Illegal dump in Comal County continues to frustrate residents, elected officials 7 years later

For the past seven years, Comal County and state officials have tried to force the operator of an illegal dump in Spring Branch to clean up his act. Despite taking business owner William “Bill” Easley to court and having him arrested twice for failing to follow court orders, the massive mess along Highway 281 remains. Now, the state is focusing its enforcement efforts on Edward Rifenbury, the owner of the land. Rifenbury inherited the 3.6 acre plot of land located in the 13600 block of Highway 281 North from his parents. He also inherited the mess left behind by his former tenant, Bill Easley, who was running a plastics and metal recycling business on the land.

“And he was doing decent. And then he just stopped recycling stuff and just kept taking stuff in,” Rifenbury said, recalling how Easley operated the business. “We tried to get him to clean it up. And it wasn’t moving as fast as he should have been taking it off.” According to state records obtained by the Defenders, Easley began operating “We Recycle Texas”, a metal and recycling business, on the property in 2014. Satellite images of the property show just how quickly the land filled up with debris. Soon after Easley opened for business, the complaints began to pile up as fast as the piles of plastics and metal. ”The state and everybody has kind of dropped the ball because it should have never gotten this far in the first place,” Rifenbury said. “It’s caused a few sleepless nights. And it’s stressful and the whole thing has been a mess, you know, after trying to get him to clean it up, trying to get answers from the state, why they didn’t hold him responsible and stuff like that. So it’s just it’s been a nightmare.”