Delayed garbage pick-up frustrating Washington residents
Garbage pick-up delays were the source of frustration for residents in Washington this week. “I’ve only lived here a month or so. A majority of the time it’s been late so far, so not great,” said Washington resident TJ Maloy. Maloy said his garbage pick-up is scheduled for Monday, however, it wasn’t removed until Wednesday. A few streets over, Ryan Savage complained of a similar issue. “They just don’t come pick it up, and I don’t understand why. I mean, we’re paying $300 a year for trash. They should pick it up,” Savage told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 Reporter Jordan Cioppa. The city of Washington is in a multi-year contract with Big’s Sanitation. On Wednesday, city leaders said in a news release that they had received numerous complaints about the delays. Mayor JoJo Burgess said most of the problem areas were in the 6th and 7th wards of the city. “We had some issues throughout the last 12-15 months, and it’s been going in peaks and valleys. There’s been no consistent fix,” the mayor said. “It’s just coming to a head because just yesterday, being Tuesday, two days into the week, we probably responded to like 10-15 calls of people not getting their trash picked up in certain neighborhoods.”The city held a public meeting with Big’s Sanitation in January, but Burgess said residents didn’t show up. A spokesperson for Big’s Sanitation released the following statement to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. “Big’s Sanitation currently services more than 4,700 customers in the city of Washington and has provided service in the region since January 2024. During that time, we have maintained greater than a 95% on-schedule pickup rate. While there have been occasional missed pickups, the vast majority have been recovered within 24 hours.On January 8, we attended a city council meeting to address concerns presented by the mayor, council, and city administrators regarding service. No specific actions were requested by the city at that meeting. We continue to upgrade our resources, including the addition of drivers and route supervisors to improve our service to the city.Throughout our time servicing the city, we have met all contractual obligations and have remained fully compliant in our agreement with the City of Washington.If any resident believes they have experienced an extended delay in service, we encourage them to contact our office directly so we can ensure they are added to our recovery schedule promptly.We appreciate the opportunity to serve the City of Washington and remain committed to providing reliable best in class service to the community.”Another public meeting on the issue is planned for June 1 at city hall. The mayor said it will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Garbage pick-up delays were the source of frustration for residents in Washington this week.
“I’ve only lived here a month or so. A majority of the time it’s been late so far, so not great,” said Washington resident TJ Maloy.
Maloy said his garbage pick-up is scheduled for Monday, however, it wasn’t removed until Wednesday.
A few streets over, Ryan Savage complained of a similar issue.
“They just don’t come pick it up, and I don’t understand why. I mean, we’re paying $300 a year for trash. They should pick it up,” Savage told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 Reporter Jordan Cioppa.
The city of Washington is in a multi-year contract with Big’s Sanitation.
On Wednesday, city leaders said in a news release that they had received numerous complaints about the delays.
Mayor JoJo Burgess said most of the problem areas were in the 6th and 7th wards of the city.
“We had some issues throughout the last 12-15 months, and it’s been going in peaks and valleys. There’s been no consistent fix,” the mayor said. “It’s just coming to a head because just yesterday, being Tuesday, two days into the week, we probably responded to like 10-15 calls of people not getting their trash picked up in certain neighborhoods.”
The city held a public meeting with Big’s Sanitation in January, but Burgess said residents didn’t show up.
A spokesperson for Big’s Sanitation released the following statement to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
“Big’s Sanitation currently services more than 4,700 customers in the city of Washington and has provided service in the region since January 2024. During that time, we have maintained greater than a 95% on-schedule pickup rate. While there have been occasional missed pickups, the vast majority have been recovered within 24 hours.
On January 8, we attended a city council meeting to address concerns presented by the mayor, council, and city administrators regarding service. No specific actions were requested by the city at that meeting. We continue to upgrade our resources, including the addition of drivers and route supervisors to improve our service to the city.
Throughout our time servicing the city, we have met all contractual obligations and have remained fully compliant in our agreement with the City of Washington.
If any resident believes they have experienced an extended delay in service, we encourage them to contact our office directly so we can ensure they are added to our recovery schedule promptly.
We appreciate the opportunity to serve the City of Washington and remain committed to providing reliable best in class service to the community.”
Another public meeting on the issue is planned for June 1 at city hall. The mayor said it will begin at 5:30 p.m.