This year the city of brotherly love is fulfilling its unfortunate nickname: “Filthadelphia”.
Philadelphia residents can now see and smell piles of household trash, fly-infested bottles and cans, bottles and cans as the city struggles to overcome a spike in trash caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just the smell of rot,” James Gitto, president of the West Passyunk Neighborhood Association in South Philadelphia, told The Associated Press. Gitto said the situation turned “total disaster” in July and hired a private recycling company to take his bottles and cans away.
Poverty and garbage often go hand in hand, and in the country’s poorest big city, the sanitation department has been underworked and overworked. The city’s 311 claims line received more than 9,700 trash and recycling calls in July, compared to 1,873 in February.
Trash rests on a street Tuesday, July 28, 2020 in Philadelphia. The COVID-19 pandemic has thwarted efforts to keep Philadelphia’s streets litter-free this summer. (Kara Kneidl via AP)
Faced with social distancing restrictions, residents stay home and generate more trash than ever, about a 30 percent increase in residential trash collection, said street commissioner Carlton Williams.
“I’ve never seen the amount of tonnage,” said Williams.
Williams is cleaning garages and attics. That adds to household garbage that has increased as more people cook at home or bring take-home food from restaurants that haven’t fully opened yet. Her department has also had to clean up after protests over racial injustice.
PHILADELPHIA GEORGE FLOYD DEATH PROTESTS BECOME VIOLENT AS THE MAYOR UNDERSTANDS THE ‘MANDATORY CURFEW’
Garbage rests on a street on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. (Kara Kneidl via AP)
Thanks to COVID-19, there are fewer sanitation workers, and staffing has varied as some workers have to quarantine if another crew member tests positive, Williams explained.
“If they say it’s going to be two days late, you can deal with it. But if you don’t know when you are going to be picked up, you must turn it off so that it is there when they arrive, and that is the problem if you leave it there for days and days and days, “said Jacqui Bowman, who lives in the University City neighborhood.
Bowman had to wait nearly three weeks for the trash to be removed, after he sat in the scorching heat and was soaked in a thunderstorm. They only took it off after she complained to a city council member on social media and posted photos of the trash pile.
“I can fully understand the virus-related labor problems, but you don’t want to add another public health problem to the existing public health problem,” he said.
Garbage remains piled up on a street Monday, July 27, 2020 in Philadelphia. The COVID-19 pandemic has thwarted efforts to keep Philadelphia’s streets litter-free this summer. (Kara Kneidl via AP)
In June, sanitation employees staged a protest calling for safer working conditions, risk pay and more personal protective equipment.
Recycling collection was suspended on Mondays and Tuesdays this week so that crews focus only on trash. City residents were asked to remove recyclables the following week and were also encouraged to use six sanitation centers throughout the city.
PHILADELPHIA POLICE CRUISES THROUGH THE CITY TARGETED, FIXED TO FIRE
Garbage remains piled up on a street on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. (Kara Kneidl via AP)
Williams said the trash surge was costing the city an additional $ 2.5 to $ 3 million in disposal costs.
Authorities hope to increase the administration’s workforce with new hires in August.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
