(WXYZ) — Priority Waste promised to have all trash and recycling collected by the end of Thursday, June 4. It is now Friday, June 5, and some residents across southeast Michigan are still waiting.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report:
"It is Friday morning now, almost noon, and trash is still all out here," Novi resident Medina Kilafofski said.
Kilafofski's trash had been sitting out in her neighborhood for nearly two weeks, heating up in warm temperatures and drawing flies and unwanted smells.
“The smell is bad, the sight does not look good, the animals are all over the place," Kilafofski said.
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7 News Detroit visited Priority Waste's corporate offices Thursday, where the CEO declined to speak on camera. The company did send a statement apologizing for the delays, saying it had added new trucks to its fleet and hired more employees, and that trash pickup would be back on track by Thursday. That deadline has now passed without resolution.
Read Priority Waste's statement below:
"We are acutely aware of the frustration that service delays have caused for residents, communities, and customers. Missed collections and delayed service are disruptive, and we take that responsibility seriously. We expect all communities to be current on trash and recycling collection by the end of today, Thursday, June 4, and expect compost and yard waste collection to be current by the end of day Saturday. Importantly, we are all-hands-on-deck across the organization as our senior leadership, operations teams, customer care teams, maintenance personnel, and field employees are solely focused on restoring service reliability. We continue to strengthen our fleet, rebuild operational capacity, ensure a seamless leadership transition. We are also receiving new collection vehicles daily as part of our ongoing fleet stabilization efforts, which is strengthening our ability to improve route reliability and operational consistency. We appreciate the patience, understanding, and partnership from the communities we serve and continue making the operational improvements necessary to deliver the level of service residents expect and deserve."
"They're just giving false promises, empty promises," Kilafofski said.
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Some communities did see pickups however, like Royal Oak and Highland Park.
However, Warren resident Chad Reiss said his trash has also gone uncollected for weeks. He said he's worried about the elderly residents and children in his neighborhood and fears the situation could become a health hazard.
"When I saw the news, I was like, I'll believe it when I see it," Reiss said. "I think this needs to be handled as soon as possible. Before it gets out of control."
A third email was sent to company higher-ups Friday, requesting an interview with the CEO to address ongoing resident concerns and asking why trash had not been picked up and why delays were continuing. No response was received.
"Get on it, fix your trucks, you guys just got a bunch of money. Get it done," Kilafofski said.
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