ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- Recently, Tompkins County Whole Health ordered the City of Ithaca to cleanup a former homeless encampment near Six Mile Creek. The notice called the site a public health hazard, telling crews to develop a plan to remove things like human waste, old needles and other garbage from the site.

The City of Ithaca and its Railroad partners who own the land on the peninsula just off of Cecil A. Malone Drive have still not completed an action plan as of this articles publishing. However, when WENY News reporters visited the site last week, they saw signs that heavy machinery had been in the area, with a majority of the trash left on the land gone. Our crew saw some smaller objects like a bike tire, a broken CD, a lost boot and a frying pan among some smaller piles of remaining artifacts.

However, the city has not been able to clean up the garbage that has made its way into Six Mile Creek. Officials say they are working with the Department of Environmental Conservation to start cleaning the creek, but it will be a long process.

"We're still working through some of the issues for making sure that we're safely addressing the concerns about any of the debris that's in the water," said Deb Mohlenhoff, the Ithaca City Manager.

When visiting the site, our crew saw piles of garbage floating, a broken fan, and old fridge and several submerged shopping carts in the creek. Here's why it is an issue: Six Mile Creek feeds into Cayuga Lake, where Dryden, Lansing, Cayuga Heights and the Town of Ithaca all get their water from. No word from officials on when they may begin cleaning the creek.

"Just going through the permitting process takes time," said Elizabeth Cameron, Director of Environmental Health at Tompkins County Whole Health.

Moving forward, the City of Ithaca says it will put up fencing and signage in the area to discourage people from moving back.

This problem is nothing new, encampments have popped up and been torn down every year in the area for a while now, but, officials believe this is their best plan yet.

"It's certainly not a short term solution, right? People have been trying to come up with solutions for years. There are proposals on the table now that I think are well thought out and worth trying," said Cameron. "I'm hoping they're all successful."