Dallas

Dallas Trash Piles as City Fails to Pick Up

One street complains of no trash collection for over a month

NBC Universal, Inc.

Trash always piles up over holidays but in some Dallas neighborhoods, residents complain a lack of city collection has made things far worse this holiday season.

It comes after a Dec. 5 trash collection schedule change that was supposed to improve service.

Residents said Monday there was no city collection for the entire month of December on De Maggio Street near Dallas Fair Park. Trash cans along that street are overflowing.

“I don’t like it. I have complained and I have complained,” resident Tamia Hall said.

She said the collection schedule changed her street to Thursday instead of Monday adding a few days from the last collection in the very first week. But no trucks ever arrived in December.

Hall said she received many excuses.

“'We’ll be through the next time on Thursday. We got short on workers. Our trucks are broken down. People have quit,'" Hall said. "Ok, the second week, the third week, the fourth week. It’s now the fifth week.”

NBC 5 first reported on the collection delays on Dec. 16 when Northwest Dallas resident Tom Bloodgood said his trash had been waiting 18 days for pick up.

“We’ve been here 26 years and the sanitation has been the best department that the city has. And since they’ve made this move to make it more efficient, it’s been the absolute opposite,” Bloodgood said.

On Dec. 16, NBC 5 sent a message to the City of Dallas media contact people seeking answers about trash collection delays.  A reply said the inquiry was received and answers would be supplied. No answers were received since then.

But, Bloodgood’s trash was collected on Dec. 16 after that inquiry to city sanitation officials and a conversation with his Dallas City Council Member, Gay Donnell Willis.

“I think there are going to be some kinks that need to be worked out, but my greater concern is some people are waiting 18 days and that’s just crazy,” Willis said.

Now Bloodgood said Monday it’s been another two weeks of missed collection at his home. He called 311 again to complain.

“I had a discussion with the 311 operator and it took 31 minutes to get through. And when she finally understood what the problem was, she started complaining about all the calls she was getting as a net result of trash not getting picked up,” Bloodgood said. “We just want our trash picked up. That’s all we want.”

It was 35 days since the last collection on Tamia Hall’s street near Dallas Fair Park Monday.

“And then when I did call again, they said they’ll bring another grey trash can. We don’t need another grey trash can. We need our trash picked up,” Hall said.

As of Monday, it's been 18 days since NBC 5 contacted the City of Dallas seeking answers. Eight of those days were holidays or weekend days. No reply was expected Monday, the New Year’s Day holiday.

Here is a link to the City of Dallas trash collection information online.

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