Heavy trash piling up
City hires contractor to help with short-staffed waste department
Houston residents stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic apparently are cleaning out their garages and homes at a record clip, and that — coupled with a city Solid Waste Management Department beset by the virus — is leading to weekslong delays in the removal of heavy trash.
The city typically removes about 19,000 tons of heavy trash a month, according to Harry Hayes, director of the department. Since the pandemic has forced more people home, that number has risen to more than 23,000 tons. Junk waste collection is running about two weeks behind schedule.
Hayes attributed the delays to rising numbers of quarantined employees, higher-than-usual demand as people stuck at home clean out their garages and houses, and short staffing that preceded the pandemic.
“We’re treading water,” Hayes said. “It really all depends on
when people run out of stuff to put out. … When your garage is empty, your garage is empty.”
Mayor Sylvester Turner last month authorized a private contractor to work with city crews to handle the increased demand, Hayes said. That contractor, DRC, was retained on July 1 for about $2.5 million and will help crews during junk trash months for the rest of the year — August, October and December, according to Hayes.
As of Thursday, the Solid Waste Management Department has had more than 90 employees in quarantine, Hayes said, accounting for more than 1,000 lost work days. Of those, 30 had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. On July 20, Assistant Director Edward Zilton Jr., 53, died from the virus.
City Council members have reported a spike in complaints to their offices about garbage service delays. Council member Amy Peck, who represents District A, asked the mayor about it on July 1, when he first publicly revealed he was looking to bring in private backup.
“A number of our operators are coming down with COVID-19,” Turner told her. “What ends up happening is if you get one that comes down and they’ve been working with others, then the others have to be quarantined. And that slows down the overall operation.”
Peck said the delays continued through July but have dropped off a bit in the last week or so.
“It’s still an issue,” Peck said this week. “I know that there are still a lot of people from the Solid Waste Department that are out because of COVID. It’s still a difficult situation for them.”
Despite those reports, the number of 311 complaints regarding missing heavy trash pickups actually has decreased from last year. The city received more than 2,500 such complaints in June and July 2019. This year, the numbers were 2,444 and 1,468, respectively.
Spring Branch West resident Holly Hitchen said the pickup in her neighborhood was two and a half weeks late in June, leaving heaps of junk piled outside several of her neighbors’ homes. One neighbor, she said, started recruiting private collectors to remove it because they were supposed to have sprinklers installed in the yard.
“It’s inconvenient for everyone to have heavy trash out there,” Hitchen said. “People have old construction materials, nails, things that rodents like to get into.”
While the automated trucks
“It’s inconvenient for everyone to have heavy trash out there. People have old construction materials, nails, things that rodents like to get into.” Spring Branch West resident Holly Hitchen
that collect everyday garbage and recycling bins are manned by one person, the heavy trash crews have three people, including a truck operator with a specialized license. When that operator is quarantined, the entire crew is removed from service, Hayes said.
The department also has been using heavy trash crews to backfill missing quarantined garbage operators because those daily operations are more vital to public health, Hayes said. It does not appear the delays have extended to regular trash service, though the city frequently receives complaints about missing service.
Hayes for years has advocated for a garbage collection fee, similar to other Texas cities, that he argues would improve service.
Austin, San Antonio and Dallas charge their residents more than $20 a month for garbage collection. Houston does not charge anything for trash collection, though the city did begin charging a $1.14 monthly fee for garbage and recycling bins last month.
Hayes said in a July 10 memo to council members that he understands the inconvenience and knows residents are dealing with their own pandemic-related issues.
“While I know many of our customers are facing some (of ) the same uncertainties we are over the coming weeks and months, they should be reassured, as the mayor has indicated, that the city will continue to provide the necessary services to maintain public health and safety,” Hayes wrote.