Full dumpster piled high, Detroiters stuck with the stink

A dumpster is filled with junk in Detroit and then just left there. For almost a year, residents say their metal neighbor has become a nuisance and they want it hauled off, so they called FOX 2 Problem Solvers.

A dumpster on Detroit's west side was a good thing, at first. Neighbors on Auburn were thrilled when they woke up last fall and spotted the metal bin sitting, awaiting the refuse from a nearby abandoned home that they expected to be cleaned out and torn down. When the crews donned masks, Dyle Cross Jr. knew it was probably unsafe, so he asked.

"I asked them they had the masks on, suits on, everything, I asked them what it was about and they said it is asbestos or something and they put it in the can," Cross said.

He says the workers filled it up. Then left. No one from Metro Waste Services has been seen or heard from. Since then, it's collected even more garbage and now, dead dogs.

Chris Monroe isn't too happy with his new neighbor and compares it to living on a farm.

"It's like staying next to a pig farm. It always smells and never get anything good out of that," Monroe said.

He's not alone. Another neighbor, Corvette Sandusky, can't understand why it's not getting cleaned up. After all, she pays her taxes and tries to take care of the neighborhood but can't understand why it's not being taken care of.

"I have a job. I work. I pay my taxes and I live my life so my kids don't have to see this but unfortunately we have to deal with it. Sandusky said.

What's even worse, dozens of kids in the neighborhood have turned this gigantic trash bin into a virtual playground. Cross said he's seen kids do back flips off of it and try to climb into it. He's worried someone will get sick.

PHOTOS: What if this dumpster was in YOUR neighborhood?

Everyone we talked with says they've called the number on the side of the dumpster and didn't get a response. So we called.

Once they looked into it, Steve Kaplan from Metro Waste explained the dumpster was there as part of the city's efforts to tear down 88,000 abandoned houses in the city. The Land Bank hired B-Back Environmental for the abatement and B-Back hired Metro Waste to provide the dumpsters.

John Roach from the ciy confirmed that information and says when the demolition got delayed the contractor forgot to remove the dumpster.

"One might have gotten lost in the shuffle it has not been there for a year, number one. Number two, it's not hazardous. Number three, it will be out of there today " Kaplan said.

Sure enough, just hours after our crews left the dumpster, Metro Waste called to say it had been hauled off Thursday afternoon.

As for the demolition, it's still on hold. While residents will have to wait for that, they're just glad the metal monstrosity is gone.