Lakes of Magnolia residents stumbled upon a pit filled with rotting deer on June 28.

According to Megan Sparks, the family was walking on a trail behind the back of the neighborhood. The trail leads towards the baseball field on Friendship Lane. That’s when she said her husband, along with their daughter, saw the pit with rotting deer and bones scattered all around.

The animals weren’t buried and she said buzzards were circling the skies.

Sparks said her 4-year-old daughter was devastated.

Montgomery County Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said the county has owned the property about 15 to 20 years and uses it as a road kill dump site. In addition, the property is used as a staging area for heavy waste such as trees, asphalt and concrete.

The county also holds a heavy trash clean-up at the site for residents to bring their heavy waste once each year.

Doyal explained that the county is trying to balance the county roadways and the road kill.

“We (county) can’t leave it (animal carcasses) on the roadway,” he said.

Sparks’ concern was the neighborhood water plant and the proximity to the baseball fields where there is a potential for other children to see it.

Doyal said the county is trying to manage the volume of carcasses that are on roadways daily, so they dump the animals in a wooded area of the county owned property.

“We may have 3 or 4 deer in a day’s time,” he said. “It’s difficult to manage the sheer volume of carcasses and dead animals.”

Magnolia Baseball Association Vice President Ross Rogers said he is “very aware of” the road kill site. He thinks the issue is the neighborhood dogs.

“It’s a dog problem more than anything,” he said.

Rogers explained that the site doesn’t pose a problem, but the dogs that drag the carcasses out of the pit and away from the dump site are creating a problem.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) states several reasons that a permit, registration, notification or other authorization is not required for the disposal of animal carcasses from government roadway maintenance. One reason a permit or other authorization is not required is if the animals were killed on county or municipal roadways and the carcass is buried on property owned by the entity.

Another reason given by the TCEQ is if the waste disposal method does not contribute to a nuisance and does not endanger the public health or the environment.

Most importantly the TCEQ states that the animal carcasses must be covered with at least two feet of soil within 24 hours of collection.

Doyal said the county had spoken with TCEQ who informed them of the regulations to host a road kill dump site on county property.

He said that the county is in the process of complying with TCEQ and burying the animals.

In addition, Doyal said the county will work to keep the site clean.

“We are trying to find a better way to manage the property,” he added.

He said the situation is “a double edged sword” because the county aims to balance the roadways and road kill.

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