JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — White leaves. Saturated earth. Liquid no one can identify.
Action News first noticed a problem Tuesday. We were with volunteers picking up trash and sprucing up tombs at the old cemetery off Old St. Augustine Road when they stumbled across a substance.
The land belongs to Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church. It houses veterans' tombs from the Civil War to Vietnam. Jacksonville great Douglas Anderson is even buried there.
"I feel very bad seeing all that. It's kind of disgusting," Vivian Wilson-Howard said.
An independent environmentalist told us off camera that the ooze is most likely coming from an artisan well underneath a mound. It has a sulfur smell and seeps dangerously close to grave sites -- which is the problem. Our photographer journeyed in for a better look.
RELATED: Veterans cemetery in disarray with weeds, garbage, sunken ground
"It's indescribable," Wilson-Howard said.
With an aging congregation, Mt. Zion doesn't have the manpower or money for upkeep. Members have seen people dumping and littering on the land -- but they can't do much about it.
Wilson-Howard, 92, whose whole family is buried here, prays the substance and the public disrespect can be resolved.
"I'd really like to find out who's doing it," she said.
Folks at Mt. Zion tell us this is the first time they've seen or heard about this problem at the back of the property. They'd be grateful to any environmentalist or someone who can help them figure out what it is.
RELATED: Volunteers clean up veterans cemetery