A Tampa couple is tired of dealing with a stinky situation they say is being left behind by city garbage trucks.
Turns out, they aren’t the only ones dealing with the issue.
“Kids walk through that every day going to school,” said Connie Ballard, who started noticing the problem back in September.
She began taking pictures of the dark stains left behind during trash pickup near her home along N. 20th St.
“When it gets hot too,” said Lionel Ballard, “and it’s 90 degrees and then they dump that there, it smells like the city dump.”
Brad Baird, director for Tampa Public Works, says leakage from garbage trucks happens a lot during the summer, especially with rain.
He says the liquid is mostly water, but when mixed with trash, it contains bacteria and other contaminants.
“It’s an ongoing issue with all garbage fleets,” he said.
He’s thankful the Ballards issued a complaint and says they’ve fixed two of the garbage trucks that pass along their street.
He says all of their trucks are equipped with a seal to avoid leaks, but they can’t prevent them all.
He also recommends homeowners place all their trash in bags and dump any water in their garbage cans before pickup.
“We shouldn’t be experiencing this type of situation,” said Ballard, “no one should.”
The Ballard’s hope other homeowners experiencing a similar problem will come forward and also issue complaints so something can be done.
In the meantime, they’ll continue filing their own complaints and taking their pictures until the problem is resolved.
“We pay taxes to pay you to do your job,” said Ballard, “not to deliberately put waste in our streets.”
