OC Homeless Camp Cleanup: 400+ Tons Of Debris, Nearly 14,000 Needles, 5,300 Pounds Of Human Waste
ANAHEIM (CBSLA/AP) -- The Orange County Public Works department says 404 tons of debris has been removed from a former homeless encampment where more than 700 people lived until they were recently moved to motels and other housing.
Debris including 13,950 needles and 5,279 pounds of fecal matter and other human waste was found along the roughly two-mile stretch of bike trail roughly from I-5 in Orange to Ball Road in Anaheim, the Orange County Register reports.
Aerial video footage released by the county showed a side-by-side comparison of areas along the river that were cleaned up between Jan. 22 and March 3, with several parts of the encampment completely cleared of debris.
Most of those people who lived along the Santa Ana River until they were evacuated in late February are being housed temporarily in local motels while county outreach workers determine the level of need for services and housing.
The bike trail cleanup is the start of a wider environmental remediation effort that includes tree trimming and the removal of up to 3 inches of soil in the area.
County efforts to close the camp were opposed by advocates for the homeless until a federal judge last month supervised a settlement calling for temporary housing.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)