Trash services on west side of Miss. River hit multiple problems due to COVID-19 outbreaks

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - On the west side of the Mississippi River, trash pickup days have been a hit or miss.

James Charleville has figured out a lot in his 92 years but there’s something that he just can’t nail down.

“They not on schedule,” said Charleville. “You never know when they are going to pick up. I mean, sometimes it’s early mornings, sometimes it’s the afternoons. Like Saturday, they didn’t pick up at all and they come by Sunday.”

He has to keep his eyes open for when the garbage truck comes around. When it doesn’t come, it’s about a day or two late.

On the other side of town, Donnie Dupont said he has been trying to get in touch with Republic Services to get down to the bottom of this.

“Here recently, the trash just hasn’t been picked up,” said Dupont. “I’ve called last week and I’ve called the week before that. I’ve had three or four bags, trash bags full of diapers just from my little girl in the house due to them being full.”

West Baton Rouge Parish posted on Facebook that Republic Services did have a few workers out with COVID who are unable to work right now. They are asking for folks to be patient even if they are a few days late.

GARBAGE AND RECYCLING ANNOUNCEMENT

Per Republic Services:

“…have 7 drivers out on COVID. We have parts of Erwinville, Port Allen, Addis, and Brusly incomplete off today’s three routes. We will tackle first thing in the morning.”

We ask that citizens remain patient as Republic works to service all areas of the Parish with a short staff. Thank you.

Dupont added even if that is the case, they say the garbage schedule is changing all the time and they haven’t been getting any updates about it.

“My problem is they don’t pick it up when they are supposed to be picked up. They should have people on standby to be able to take over those people’s places or work overtime. Do whatever they have to do to pick up our trash if we are paying for it,” he explained.

Republic Services garbage trucks were seen out on the road picking up several trash cans on Wednesday, August 4. Later, Republic Services said the constant rain has contributed to the garbage delays as well:

Due to a sustained increase in residential volumes since the beginning of the pandemic and with many people still working from home and consistent rain and storms in recent months, Republic Services of Baton Rouge has experienced collection delays in Port Allen. We have added additional resources, including staff, to address these collection delays. We take great pride in serving our customers in Port Allen. We appreciate our customers’ understanding and cooperation during this time.

The city of Port Allen is actually having a meeting on August 4 to address some of the trash issues with Republic Services.

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