AZTEC, N.M. (AP) San Juan County's voluntary cleanup program has resulted in more than 73,000 cubic yards of trash and junk being sent to an area landfill. The county's chief executive officer, Kim Carpenter, says that's enough trash to form a wall 8 feet wide, 5 feet tall and 12 miles long. Carpenter says the numbers are staggering when thinking about what else needs to be cleaned up in the northwestern New Mexico county.
Officials announced Wednesday that in the seven years the program has been operating, more than 780 properties have been cleanup up and more than 37,000 hours have been spent on the effort.
The majority of the workers doing the hard labor are inmates from the county jail.
