NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — People in one Nashville neighborhood say garbage trucks that service thousands across the city are doing more harm than good.
For three years, people in the Caldwell-Abbay Hall neighborhood said they have watched as the trucks leak an oily substance all over the street each week while picking up trash.
“You could see where they stopped at every household,” said Tricia Frantz, President of the Caldwell-Abbay Hall Neighborhood Association. “It was a puddle of oil, then it dripped to the next house, then a puddle of oil, then it dripped to the next house.”
Frantz has been taking photos of the oily streets for three years. She said she is concerned the oil isn’t ideal to drive on, or for pets or people to walk through. She is also concerned about a possible environmental impact.
“When it rains it [the oil] is going into our runoff, our water,” said Frantz. “We have a creek right here.”
Frantz said several of her neighbors have voiced her concerns multiple times to Metro Public Works, as well as Red River Waste Services, the company that operates the trucks.
Several months ago, an official at Metro Public Works said they had addressed the issue, and removed the leaking truck from the fleet. However, Frantz said she has noticed no improvements.
A spokesperson for Metro Public Works said Red River services around 92,000 residents in Davidson County, including residents in the Caldwell-Abbay neighborhood, with Public Works and Waste Industries servicing the remaining approximately 40,000 residents.
In a statement, the spokesperson said they are "aware of the ongoing issue, and are looking at all options to ensure Red River is compliant with the terms of their contract with Metro." That contract currently runs through 2024.
Tricia thinks the best solution is for Metro to cut ties with Red River, and find a new company that will be more responsible.
“This is our neighborhood and you aren’t allowed to come in here and dump oil all over it.”
