DETROIT – A man living on Detroit’s west side says he’s sick and tired of looking out his window and seeing trash all over the place.
He says the area around his home on Holmur Street near West Grand River Avenue has become a magnet for illegal free dumping.
The growing eyesore has finally been removed from Detroit’s west side, which featured furniture, appliances, trash, and even tires, all sitting near a park at Holmur and West Euclid streets.
James Blair lives right across the street.
“It’s been the neighborhood dumping site for as long as I can remember,” said Blair. “We don’t necessarily like it here. But there’s nothing that we really can do about it.”
Blair said it’s hard to look at all of waste and garbage daily, but ironically, after the city has cleaned it up repeatedly, he’s gotten used to it.
The trash is located right at the corner of Maycie Park.
“That pile would be bigger than that, and the city cleaned it up,” Blair said. “But since COVID, the people haven’t been coming here. But they still dump there.”
After speaking to the city, Local 4 has been told part of the delay in cleaning up the dump site is due to the nationwide shortage of workforce with city workers.
The other part is that they weren’t adequately notified.
“Once we’re notified about it, we’re usually a day or two or three days because of manpower issues, but we’re out there cleaning it up,” said Detroit Assistant Superintendent of Solid Waste, Dhaval Patel.
Now, the site is being cleaned up thoroughly. New technology has never been easier to report illegal dumping and other issues.
“The Improve Detroit app,” Patel said. “It’s a one-stop shop for all city services, whether it’s a water main or a pothole, illegal dumping, and illegal dumping in progress.”
“The city has cleaned it up,” Blair said. “The guys come out and do their part. But you know things just been tight since COVID.”
Except for car parts, Local 4 has been told nearly all the items tossed are things that could have been placed on the curb.
More: Homeowner fed up with constant littering by City of Detroit employees
