After years of court battles, the Riverside County Superior Court moved the property, which belongs to brothers Dave and Paul Corson, into receivership last month.

The first orders of business were to carve out from the cluttered chaos enough space for a Dumpster bin and to create three piles - hazardous material, recyclable material and debris, said attorney Mark Adams, who was appointed to manage the cleanup.

"I've done 17 years of these, and I've never seen a property as overwhelmed with just debris," Adams said. "It goes on and on, and you think, `How did it start?"'

Dave Corson, 61, who lives in the condemned house in which he grew up and where bees have since built a hive, said his father started recycling scrap metal. He and Paul, 59, just picked up the habit.

Yet somewhere along the

line, it got out of hand.

Among the metal bed frames, tires and aluminum cans are oil drums, car batteries and even an uncooked turkey still in its plastic wrap.

"We always work on this stuff all the time. We don't need any help," Dave Corson said in an unfruitful protest to the work crew. "It'll jeopardize our natural lifestyle. You have a certain way of living."

Adams said that's exactly why - although he has the authority to relocate the brothers while the junk is cleared - he is opting to bring in two motor homes so they can stay on the land.

"Every city has at least one hoarder, so a lot of cities are searching for answers," Adams said. "It's an obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it's clear no one knows how to deal with it."

Adams said he is charged with fixing the hazards that extreme hoarding poses to the public.

There is a good chance, however, that the collecting will start up again as soon as the property is returned to its owner, he said.

Renee Power, superintendent of Norco Animal Control, arrived on the property Tuesday afternoon to transport three heavily matted sheep and several geese for health inspections.

"The sheep graze on the grass. They eat it all up, so there's no fire trap," Dave Corson said, as Power and her staff loaded the animals into animal control vehicles. "You can't mess with the birds' environment. ... You're disturbing their peace."

Adams assured him that the animals, if found healthy and cared for, would be returned.

The hauling is scheduled to begin Thursday, and the entire process is expected to take three to four months.

Adams said the court put the removal and receivership costs at a maximum of $215,000, much of which may be offset by recycling profits.

Staff writer Andrea Bennett can be reached by e-mail at andrea.bennett@dailybulletin.com, or by phone at (909) 483-9347.

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