Some Priority Waste customers livid in Metro Detroit over missed pickups
Missed trash pickups by Priority waste leaves Metro Detroit communities livid
Residents in some pockets of Metro Detroit say their trash pickups have been missed or delayed.
ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (FOX 2) - Priority Waste is a large waste management company serving well over a million people in three states.
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However, a number of cities are upset with Priority, like in St. Clair Shores, where trash bins are sitting on curbs filled to the brim, untouched.
Just within the last week, Dearborn Heights is refusing to pay part of the Priority Waste bill because of missed or delayed garbage pick-up. Last night, the city of St Clair Shores voted not to renew Priority Waste’s contract.
The state of Michigan's Environment, Great Lakes and Energy department is investigating Priority Waste because of environmental concerns.
Residents weighed in on the situation with St Clair Shores garbage.
"They just don’t pick it up," said one woman.
"They take all day to get the garbage, they take certain things and they’re slow as heck," said one man. "It sits there and gets scattered around in the streets and blows all around and all the rats get it. So we got our rats too."
FOX 2 spoke with a bartender at a St. Clair Shores establishment who said she lives in New Haven and has had the same problems with Priority.
"Yes, like my garbage has been sitting at the curb since Friday, and it’s still sitting there," she said.
In April EGLE issued violations for complaints alleging Priority Waste was storing solid waste in vehicles overnight and leaking contaminants out of trucks onto the ground.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun spoke about the situation in his city.
FOX 2: "Is there a possibility that Dearborn Heights could cancel the contract because of these violations?"
"Our legal team is definitely looking into our contract as we speak," Baydoun said. "There might even potentially be a suit filed. We are considering all avenues to put Dearborn Heights residents before any private company."
One St. Clair Shores resident was happy to hear that a new garbage company will soon be serving St. Clair Shores.
"Yeah I’m really excited about the change," she said. "Hopefully, it’ll be a good change."
The mayor of St Clair Shores said that they are not going to renew the contract when it’s up at the end of June.
Priority waste does have some time to respond to the state’s environmental concerns. And we put a request for Priority Waste to comment, but Fox 2 has not heard back yet.
The scene in one neighborhood in St. Clair Shores this week.
The Source: Information for this report