Port Richmond residents upset after video shows sanitation workers tossing trash bins
"This is outrageous, this is terrible," said Lisa Peña of Port Richmond.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia sanitation crew is in hot water due to an apparent act of negligence and disregard that was caught on camera.
A business owner in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood said his surveillance video caught a city sanitation truck pull up to the 2800 block of East Clearfield Street in Port Richmond last Thursday.
Video shows a sanitation worker tossing an item into the recycling bins, knocking the bins over. Some trash spills out of a can and into the street, but not all the trash is picked up.
The trash bins are then tossed by one worker and kicked to the street by the other.
"This is outrageous, this is terrible," said Lisa Peña of Port Richmond.
"That was ridiculous to see," added Jim Blazejewski.
Joe Hughes said his cameras caught the whole act.
"I was upset, very upset, because I do pay extra money to have them pick up our trash here," said Hughes.
Hughes owns a number of properties on the block and said the garbage lying around was bad for his business.
"Especially since I'm renting out apartments or something like that. (If) somebody takes a look at it, they have a bad thought. We have a dance studio down at the corner here, they don't need to have that with the little girls coming in and stepping over the trash," said Hughes.
Hughes said he's had similar trash issues before but not at this level.
Residents said they have concerns of their own.
"There's usually trash all up and down this street. I didn't realize it could have been coming from them," said Blazejewski.
The city called the workers' actions "inappropriate," releasing this statement to Action News:
"The Streets Department apologizes to the neighbors of 2800 block of E. Clearfield St. for this inappropriate behavior by sanitation employees. The employees are directed to collect all debris set out correctly for collections and to pick up any materials that fall to the ground while they are collecting. They are also required to place cans back in a stand up position. We thank Action News for bringing this to our attention. Please note, appropriate disciplinary actions will be taking against all employees involved."
