'It's become a health hazard': McDougald Terrace residents struggling with trash pickup issues

Residents tell WRAL News that some of the dumpsters have not been emptied in weeks, and some have taken it upon themselves to try to pick up the garbage blowing around that Durham Housing Authority property.

The Durham Housing Authority confirmed to WRAL News that the trash collection vendor had an equipment issue that prevented pickup on Monday.

In an email, CEO Anthony Scott said the company, "would have all trash removed by [Wednesday] morning by working through the night."

He also wrote, "The last time that Meridian completed a full pick up at once was Sept. 9. The pickups were not then consistently completed, meaning that they all trash was not removed at the same time but on an ongoing basis."

Meridian Waste told WRAL News that the issue with the truck was identified while it was on the scene Monday for pickup at McDougald Terrace.

A spokesperson for the company wrote in an email that the "24-hour delay arising out of a safety concern is the only delay known to Meridian Waste in relation to the Durham Housing Authority contract."

McDougald Terrace resident and Council President Ashley Canady said the overflowing dumpsters have been an issue for weeks.

"We’re not even ducking bullets right now, we’re ducking cups and bottles, and I’m picking up trash every morning, me and the residents," Canady said. "There’s buzzards, flies, maggots.

"Now, it’s just to the point where it’s absolutely disgusting. Residents are calling me. Residents are complaining."

Canady said the issue isn’t just the swarming flies or the overwhelming smell, but the time it’s taking to clean up the trash blowing away.

"Maintenance men are picking up trash every morning, and then most of their morning goes to trying to keep the lawns and stuff clean because the trash is starting to blow over onto the lawns," Canady said. "You smell trash when you wake up in the morning.

"You smell trash when the wind blows. You smell trash when you’re laying down. When I say it looks horrible, I mean it’s just beyond belief."

Canady and other residents have taken it upon themselves to clean up.

"I’m telling you, it was so disgusting. I had maggots and everything crawling all over me, I’m ducking buzzards, that was over there. And it’s become a health hazard, because children are walking out in this stuff every morning," she said.

Late Tuesday afternoon, city workers arrived at the DHA property.

Although the city is not responsible for trash collection there, the Neighborhood Improvement Services Department did come to clean up the overflowing garbage on the ground.