Trash overflows in the alley behind Utah Street and Arkansas Avenue on Monday, July 30, 2018, in St. Louis. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
J.B. Forbes
St. Louis city refuse workers attend a town hall meeting on trash problems and fireworks held on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36. Residents heard from aldermen, fire and police officials and others discussing recent problems with trash pickup, illegal dumping and enforcement of fireworks ordinances. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS • St. Louis residents lined up on Monday night to ask officials why laws barring trash dumping and setting off fireworks in the city aren’t being adequately enforced.
In a town hall hosted by several members of the Board of Aldermen, constituents from throughout the city wanted to know how their recently increased trash fees are being spent, what they have to do to get complaints about trashed alleyways and neighborhoods addressed quickly and why police aren’t arresting more people setting off fireworks in neighborhoods.
But on both subjects, complaints tend to focus on one thing: enforcement.
“We can come up with all the ideas we want in this meeting. But if they’re not enforced, there’s no accountability ... if there’s no repercussions for doing something illegal, than what’s the point of having a law?†asked Ryan Barnes, a resident of the 11th Ward.
When nearly every chair in the room was full, roughly two dozen trash truck drivers stood in the back, growing visibly agitated at some of the officials’ responses.
Most of them are now forced to work weekend shifts, or shifts that begin much earlier or end much later, to ensure garbage can be picked up with St. Louis’ aging trash truck fleet. Equipment is breaking down faster than it can be replaced, personnel (both mechanics and drivers) have been cut, and St. Louis is now struggling to reverse that course.
The issue, he said, is increasing numbers of low-quality fireworks being sold on the black market. Commercial-grade fireworks, like those set off at events like Fair St. Louis, are inspected. A fallout zone is established and fire marshals are on the scene. Cheap, homemade fireworks are often shot less than 70 feet in the air, meaning flammable material is falling onto lawns, streets, garages and homes, Jenkerson said.
“You can buy anything on the internet,†he said.
But when pushed to share how many tickets or summons were issued for lighting fireworks this month, no police officers on hand could immediately provide a number.
“How come no one has been documenting these addresses and knowing that each year you’re going to have these same people, at the same address, firing off fireworks?†asked Erline Johnson, a Dutchtown resident who said she and her neighbors call 911 to report fireworks every year.
St. Louis police Capt. Michael Deeba said it’s often a matter of prioritizing calls. The department is more than 100 officers short, he noted.
“Everybody in this room wants me at their house if they think somebody is breaking in, or in a car accident when a loved one is injured, versus a fireworks call,†Deeba said.
Aldermen at the event acknowledged that existing ordinances will need to be more strictly enforced, and new, tougher ones may need to be written.
“There’s far too many meetings that happen, and it has to be more than just therapeutic ... we have to actually do something to respond,†said 16th Ward Alderman Tom Oldenburg.
Trash overflows in the alley behind Iowa Avenue and Winnebago Street on Monday, July 30, 2018, in St. Louis. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
J.B. Forbes
The city has taken some steps to crack down on illegal dumping and improve garbage pickup. Increasing the trash fee from $11 to $14 last year has allowed the city to gradually begin replacing trash trucks and deploy about 100 new surveillance cameras throughout the city to monitor dumping in lots and alleys. A bolstered “trash task force†in the police department is also responding to complaints that come either directly to them or through the Citizen Service Bureau.
Alderman Brandon Bosley, 3rd Ward, said he wants the Board of Aldermen to go further, and explore tougher penalties for dumping. Right now, someone dumping their waste in a city alley could be slammed with a $500 fine and some community service.
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“You’ll take that risk when it costs you $1,000 to dump it in the correct place,†Bosley said. “It’s not a deterrent. We have to put the laws exactly where our mouth is.â€
Alderman Sarah Martin said the city has failed to conduct even routine maintenance on its trash trucks, so spending money to do so is long overdue.
“We may need to look in the future, and look at our mistakes as far as what aldermen control in the budget. Do we not buy a truck and hire mechanics with that money? Maybe we need to look at that and see, as far as our maintenance plan goes, because we’ve spent 10 years without any maintenance,†said Martin, who represents the 11th Ward.
Trash or recycle?
"Stick with the Six," says recycling expert Elysia Musumeci. She's the Sustainability Education and Outreach Coordinator at Brightside St. Louis and has wasted much of her time picking nonrecyclables out of recycling bins. The six items on her list of recyclables are: paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, food and beverage cartons, and metal food and beverage cans.
If it's not one of the six, reconsider putting it in the blue bin. We've got a list of 20 items people commonly try to put in recycling bins — and whether they actually belong there.
Bottles are baled together and then are sent to a processor that shreds, pelletizes and sorts the different grades of plastic using optical sorting and water density tests.
Though plastic newspaper sleeves are plastic bags and can't be recycled in single-stream recycling bins, they can be recycled at local grocery or retail stores along with plastic bags.
But empty plastic cups like Starbucks's iced coffee cups are recyclable. Be sure to snap the lid back on as lids are flat and can mistakenly end up with paper at the sorting facility.
Add "hot drink" after "disposable" in the sentence beginning with "so your"
Bottles smaller than 2-3" will fall through the cracks at the sorting facility. But consider dropping them off at an animal shelter! Some animal shelters and vets re-label and reuse these bottles for animal medications.
Replace "tip" with "recycle" and replace "shred lightly" with "paper, but shred it lightly!"
Replace entire caption with this:
If you're considering shredding paper, ask yourself whether you can just black out important information with a sharpie or set up account alerts. Shredding paper shortens the fibers before recycling, lowering its quality. But if you need to shred paper, the best option is to do it securely at a paper shredding company or recycling facility. If you are instead shredding paper at home, make sure to put it in a paper — rather than plastic — bag and staple it closed. Loose shredded paper can't be recycled on its own as it's too small and can contaminate good recyclables.
Pizza boxes? Yes. Starbucks cups? No. Your guide to recycling
We consider ourselves pretty good recyclers around here, but we’ll admit that we too were shocked by a few concepts that required just a little rethinking. Debra D. Bass explains the reasoning behind some of the basics, because it might be more compelling than a list of arbitrary-sounding dos and don’ts.
Trash or recycle?
"Stick with the Six," says recycling expert Elysia Musumeci. She's the Sustainability Education and Outreach Coordinator at Brightside St. Louis and has wasted much of her time picking nonrecyclables out of recycling bins. The six items on her list of recyclables are: paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, food and beverage cartons, and metal food and beverage cans.
If it's not one of the six, reconsider putting it in the blue bin. We've got a list of 20 items people commonly try to put in recycling bins — and whether they actually belong there.
Pizza boxes
Food containers
Plastic caps
Replace sorting bit with this:
Bottles are baled together and then are sent to a processor that shreds, pelletizes and sorts the different grades of plastic using optical sorting and water density tests.
Broken glass
Replace sentence about 2-3 inches with this:
Glass bits smaller than 2-3" are too small to be recycled — they'll fall through the cracks of the equipment used at the sorting facility.
Empty cans
Replace first two sentences with: Empty cans belong in the blue bin, even if they're not spotless. (And then pick up with "a little residue")
Cardboard boxes
break up last sentence into two sentences: period should go after "from the box"
Books
comma after "it" in the first sentence
Aluminum Cans
delete "and" in the last sentence
Add a new last sentence:
Aluminum cans can be recycled and restocked in supermarkets within 60 days.
Junk mail
Add after newspaper sentence:
Though plastic newspaper sleeves are plastic bags and can't be recycled in single-stream recycling bins, they can be recycled at local grocery or retail stores along with plastic bags.
Old photos
Not sure what waxy coatings bit is about... maybe take out. Replace with:
Old, glossy photos like polaroids can't be recycled — they don't pass the "tear test." However, the glossy paper you see in magazines is recyclable.
Greeting cards
Add to the end:
Also, make sure to remove sound devices from musical cards before dumping them in the blue bin.
Plastic utensils, napkins, paper towels and tissues
add an "s" to "tissue" in the first sentence
make "CANNOT" all one word
delete comma after "just say no"
add after the first sentence:
The food, grease and other fluids on these paper products can contaminate good recyclables if they're mistakenly placed in the blue bin.
add: "tissues, paper towels and napkins" after the title "plastic utensils" on the picture as many people might not know to recycle them.
Coffee cups
Add to the end:
But empty plastic cups like Starbucks's iced coffee cups are recyclable. Be sure to snap the lid back on as lids are flat and can mistakenly end up with paper at the sorting facility.
Add "hot drink" after "disposable" in the sentence beginning with "so your"
Needles
add "needles" to the end of the first sentence
Juice boxes and milk cartons
Change list in first line to:
"juice boxes, milk cartons and broth cartons"
Pill bottles
Change last sentence to:
Bottles smaller than 2-3" will fall through the cracks at the sorting facility. But consider dropping them off at an animal shelter! Some animal shelters and vets re-label and reuse these bottles for animal medications.
Bundles
Delete this slide because I added the one above that talks about plastic bags/film and bagged recyclables
Paper clips and staples
add in "and staples" after "paper clips"
add in "or stapled" after "clipped"
replace "tip" with "within moderation" to keep consistent format of can you / can't you recycle X item
Paper
Replace "tip" with "recycle" and replace "shred lightly" with "paper, but shred it lightly!"
Replace entire caption with this:
If you're considering shredding paper, ask yourself whether you can just black out important information with a sharpie or set up account alerts. Shredding paper shortens the fibers before recycling, lowering its quality. But if you need to shred paper, the best option is to do it securely at a paper shredding company or recycling facility. If you are instead shredding paper at home, make sure to put it in a paper — rather than plastic — bag and staple it closed. Loose shredded paper can't be recycled on its own as it's too small and can contaminate good recyclables.
"Corruption has no place in law enforcement and cannot be tolerated. Officers must be held accountable for their actions."
Trash overflows in the alley behind Utah Street and Arkansas Avenue on Monday, July 30, 2018, in St. Louis. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis city refuse workers attend a town hall meeting on trash problems and fireworks held on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36. Residents heard from aldermen, fire and police officials and others discussing recent problems with trash pickup, illegal dumping and enforcement of fireworks ordinances. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Trash overflows in the alley behind Iowa Avenue and Winnebago Street on Monday, July 30, 2018, in St. Louis. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com