CINCINNATI — Over 1,000 residents in the City of Cincinnati are sitting on almost 2 weeks' worth of trash. Many residents didn’t see their trash picked up last week due to a “staffing shortage,” according to the city.
On one street in Oakley, trash day is normally Wednesday, but last week no trash pickup came.
“The trash wasn’t picked up on Thursday or Friday, and as the days went on, um, some of the neighbors submitted complaints,” said Kate Ruttkay, an Oakley resident.
According to the City of Cincinnati, trash pickup was delayed last week due to several Public Service Department workers calling out sick for multiple days, impacting nearly every neighborhood in the city.
WATCH: How neighborhoods are dealing with the trash pile-up, and how the city is responding
“The trash has been, you know, out on the sidewalk; ours has been piling up,” Ruttkay said.
Residents say the mounds of trash throughout their neighborhood are creating inconveniences and unpleasant smells.
“I think there is definitely an odor in the air, and even just having the cans out for that long, like it makes it tricky to walk on the sidewalks, hard for the kids to play, things like that,” Ruttkay said.
Just a few doors down from Ruttkay, Nichole Diciero says she’s been having the same issues.
“It’s definitely smelly; it’s been kinda hot,” Diciero said. “It is kinda frustrating that it didn’t come, and we just have to deal with the consequences.”
The City’s 311 service map shows over 1,100 complaints of missed trash collection across the city since last Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Residents we spoke with say they didn’t know about the delay until they or their neighbors made a complaint.
“As far as I could see, you had to go and seek the information to get the update. There wasn’t anything proactively that was put out to the neighbors,” Ruttkay said.
We reached out to the city and asked if they were working on a solution to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and if all trash will be picked up this week. The city replied, saying all trash, even what doesn't fit in cans, will be collected this week as scheduled. They did not answer our question about a solution.
