From the air, it is a huge, dark mound that dominates the banks of Rosillo Creek in southeast San Antonio in the 7200 block of South WW White Road.
At ground level, the gates are closed and locked tight. Vegetation is overgrown. A shelter that once protected workers has fallen into disrepair and the neighbors say the business is abandoned.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is pursuing administrative action to clean up a mountain of asphalt roofing shingles that they say is almost 34,000 cubic yards in size.
The agency said that the material was dumped on the site without proper permits.
Their court order says that in addition to the material on the surface, the dumping activity disturbed the protective cap of a previous landfill that had been at the site but was closed and properly sealed years ago.
The state has a preliminary order requiring the property owner and two other entities to clean up the mess by April 24, but no work is going on at the site at this time and the operators of the site have denied each allegation against them.
A TCEQ spokesman said that if a settlement cannot be reached at this stage of negotiations, the agency has the option of referring the case to further litigation.