CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC)– Trash pick-up delays are causing major problems for some neighborhoods in Virginia.
According to residents on Pleasantview Road in Caroline County, sometimes their neighborhood smells like sewage as they wait weeks for their trash to be picked up.
GFL Environmental covers homes in this area, after acquiring the garbage collection service, County Waste. Residents continue to try to reach out to GFL Environmental about the ongoing issues through a variety of avenues.
LaTanya King is a resident and told 8News that she started noticing problems a month ago. She said County Waste had previously came to pick up her trash Friday morning, then the company changed. During that time period she was not sent new trash cans and went a month without her trash being picked up.
King said she feels angry and used.
“It’s almost like going to a restaurant, not getting good service and putting out your hard earned money,” King said. “They won’t come. They won’t show up. You try calling. No one answers the phone now or when you call, you get cut off or you get false promises.”
Other residents in the neighborhood have been filling up several cans with trash and finding other alternatives, like storing it in their homes or burning it.
David Usher Jr. is King’s grandson, and he told 8News that the odor is terrible, and the trash is attracting animals. He said the elderly residents are having to take the trash to a local dump.
“There has been snakes and roaches,” Usher Jr. said. “People are literally seeing mice and things and it’s getting very disgusting.”
Latia Foster lives in the neighborhood and has to fill up four trash cans at once sometimes. Foster shared screenshots from her surveillance footage at her home that showed a bear near her back porch overnight on July 5. The bear was trying to get into her trashcan.
Foster said the bear sightings have been increasing and now she has to make noise, turn the volume on her radio up, and honk her car horn just to make sure she can safely enter her home.
King said that she drove to Fredericksburg last week to get answers.
She said she was told the ‘system and phone lines are down.’
According to GFL Environmental’s Midlothian office, their Fredericksburg office has about 50 routes. They’re experiencing minor routing issues which are being addressed.
King was given a pamphlet that said she should expect route changes starting on June 27, and that her pickup day was going to change.
The Stafford County landfill is now offering free disposal for residents who live in Stafford County and the city of Fredericksburg through Sunday, July 24.
King said she wants to see some improvements.
“I want them to step up to the plate and conduct their business. Be held accountable and pick up the trash,” King said.
In the meantime, residents can call 1-800-832-1332 for further assistance.
