Dozens of tires pile up at illegal dumping site - WISN Milwaukee

Dozens of tires pile up at illegal dumping site

Nearby Milwaukee residents said nobody will clean up the growing pile of junk

Junk is piling up near 35th and Locust streets in Milwaukee. Neighbors told WISN 12 News that nobody is cleaning it up.

"Garbage. A house for rodents and a house for outside animals. That is all that is. And it's a fire hazard as well," said Franchesca Williams, who lives on the block.

Someone dumped television sets, furniture and dozens of tires behind an abandoned home on 35th Street. The house was charred in a fire and had a raze order from March 2022 posted on the front door.

"So it takes a year, and within a year this is what happened," said Williams.

Williams said the mountain of trash is a health hazard.

"You see raccoons and possoms living there, running rampant. That's their home, you know? So it's scary. It's scary. My kids can't even go back there and play basketball because they're scared," said Williams.

When people illegally dump, they get out of fees the city charges at its drop-off centers. Tires cost three dollars each to dump at the city's site.

Thursday afternoon, WISN 12 News found Dominic Lacy cleaning up trash behind a different home, just feet away. Lacy said he gets hired to haul the junk to a city drop-off site.

"We're going right down to the dump to clear everything else out," said Lacy. "We pay like $30 sometimes, sometimes a big load is $50. Some people don't have the money to go pay for the dump."

Instead, the discarded hair extensions, tables and trash end up illegally dumped; an eyesore and potential danger to those living nearby.

"We already live in the neighborhood we live in, but at the same time, it's like we don't have to have it looking like that," said Williams.

According to property records, the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services fined the property owner as recently as February for repeated litter with a 30-day deadly that remains unpaid.