NEW ORLEANS — With less than two months left on its New Orleans sanitation contract, Metro Service Group is once again having difficulty picking up trash on time.
Tuesday, overflowing garbage cans, piles of trash bags and boxes sat on curbs in front of people’s homes over a large section of the city’s Seventh Ward.
Harold Richardson on N. Tonti told WWL-TV, his trash hasn’t been picked up in two weeks.
“We’re supposed to have trash collection on Mondays,” Richardson said. “Today is Tuesday. You can see the trash. They didn’t pick it up last Monday, nor the previous Monday.”
Down the block, Joanne Williams complained that the garbage is starting to smell.
“It’s horrible and the smell is the worst,” Williams said. “They need to come out and pick up this trash. We paid for it. They need to come and pick it up.”
The city rebid the garbage contract after Metro couldn’t keep up with its routes during the pandemic, especially after Hurricane Ida last August. Metro’s service area includes most of the city north of I-10, from the Jefferson Parish line through New Orleans East.
IV Waste, owned by businessman Sidney Torres, is set to take over much of that route on Nov. 7.
Torres said the city has asked them to take over additional garbage routes on an emergency basis as Metro’s contract winds down.
“We’ve rented all of the trucks,” Torres said. “We have all of the employees ready. We’re ready to help wherever we’re needed.”
It’s unclear if IV Waste will have to replace Metro completely, ahead of schedule.
“I’m hoping that they can finish it out,” Torres said. “I’m hoping that we’re not going to have to do that. I hope they can finish out their job on a positive side.”
In the meantime, neighbors just want their trash picked up on time -- without any further delays.
“IV or whoever is going to take the contract, we’re going to watch you and we’re going to see if there’s any improvement and we’ll let you know,” Richardson said.
“We’re just tired of waiting for the trash to be picked up,” Williams said. “We’re tired of the stench. We’re tired of all of this. Just the trash sitting out. It's an eyesore.”
Metro Service Group said that trash pickup has been delayed in some areas "due to the fact that drivers are being hired away by competitors under the assumption that Metro is losing its contract."
Their statement went on to say that the company is still 100% committed to the New Orleans community and will finish its routes.
The City of New Orleans released a statement saying that Metro should complete all Monday trash pickup by the end of the day on Tuesday.
"As the City moves toward transitioning to our new curbside collection contracts on Nov. 7, the Department of Sanitation continues to monitor Metro's performance and enlist the support of supplemental contractors," a city spokesperson said. "The City re-assigned an additional daily route in Service Area 2 to IV Waste this week in an effort to stabilize scheduled collections for residents."
A second company, Waste Pro, will be picking up in New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward. The new contracts call for once-a-week trash pickup with recycling.
Richard's Disposal currently picks up in Algiers, Mid-City and upriver neighborhoods.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.