ST. LOUIS — St. Louis neighbors said it's been weeks since they've last seen a trash truck emptying dumpsters in their neighborhood. Susan McCormick lives in south St. Louis. She walks her community daily for cardio and to clean up litter on the ground.
"I actually take the bags out and take them down to another container," McCormick said. "I know if I don't move it, we will have rats and possums in here. Then tomorrow when I go to pick up trash it will be all over the alley and take twice as long to pick it up."
She said pickup is started to become inconsistent in the past few months. Gerald Shepard in Sherman Park noticed the same issue.
"At this time now, we have bags in the house and don't know where to put them," Shepard said. "We walk up and down the alley, and most of the dumpsters are full."
Shepard said his dumpster is supposed to be cleared twice a week.
"Well the problem is it brings rodents," Shepard said. "it makes people take their trash and have to throw it on the side of the dumpster instead of in it because everyone is trying to get trash out of their house."
A city spokesperson provided this statement:
The Refuse Division works hard to honor its commitment of picking up alleyway trash and recycling each at least once per week, using data to guide pickup strategies. The Division has brought on nine refuse drivers, instituted a $3,000 hiring incentive to help hire more, and invested in truck repair to make our fleet more reliable.
Residents are encouraged to report overflowing dumpsters and other refuse issues to contact the Citizens Service Bureau at 314-622-4800, online or @stlcsb on Twitter.
Gerald and Susan realize the uphill battle the city faces. They are just asking for transparency and solutions.
"Perhaps we could use recycle bins until you can solve this problem and have a place to put our trash," McCormick said. "Or outsource to a company who can pick up the trash you aren't picking up."