DETROIT – The intersection of Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road where Ferndale and Detroit meet are known for the panhandler camps under the overpass and a fairly new shopping center that continues to boom across the street.
A new biohazard is causing concern and creeping into the shopping area. Dozens of dirty needles are the cause of this hazardous problem.
That corner has brought jobs and shopping to the city since the Meijer store first opened in 2013.
Sources close to the management of the center sent Local 4 pictures of dozens of dirty needles. They said the discarded needles are found daily at the benches at the corner, near a bus stop where kids arrive from school.
There are fears that a child will pick up a filthy needle and poke themselves or someone else with it.
Kim Tandy is the city's district manager for the area.
"So we've heard of the needle issue. Having that there is an attribute that if we can fix that might help us to fix the other," said Kim Tandy, the city's district manager for the area.
White not linking the needles and drug use to the panhandler camps along Woodward Avenue and 8 Mile Road, she said the city is working to find solutions to both the problem of addiction and living on the streets.
"We have gone to clean it up. We have moved the people, taken them to get help, but they come back." Tandy said.
