Portable toilets placed near agriculture fields in Yuma

YUMA, Ariz. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - The Yuma area is known as “America’s salad bowl” for the amount of lettuce and leafy greens farmers there grow. Yuma County said migrants were using agriculture fields as bathrooms and contaminating the crops.

The portable toilets were placed by the county to keep people from trespassing and urinating in the fields nearby. Fields that often have crops growing in them, raising a huge health concern.

"You test immediately. You either have to destroy the crop or take other measures," said Jonathan Lines, Supervisor for Yuma County.

The problem dates back to January 2022, when Yuma saw a spike in migrants crossing into the U.S.

"When that happened people grew impatient and decided they didn't want to wait here and started walking into active harvesting situations," Lines explained.

Taking matters into their own hands

Lines says farmers were finding human waste in their fields, causing food safety concerns.

"The damages to the industry as a whole were somewhere in the neighborhood of half of a million dollars," Lines shared.

Yuma County took matters into their own hands, and paid for 16 portable toilets and two handwashing stations along the border fence in Yuma. San Luis, and Morales Dam, to keep people from going in the fields.

"It's also a humanitarian response but it's also a protection of our local AG industry," Lines expressed.

No plans to remove them

A local AG industry that supplies the nation with lettuce and other leafy greens. To date, the county has spent about $80,000 dollars on the project.

Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said they would pay back the county $120,000 over the course of the next three years to cover the cost of maintenance and the restrooms, but they still haven't received a check.

As of now, that county says these portable toilets are a necessity and there are no plans to remove them.