Post-Irma Garbage Woes May End Soon

LAND O’ LAKES, FL — The smell of rotten food filled in the air in one suburban Pasco County neighborhood Wednesday morning as garbage cans and bags lined the streets. Refuse from torn bags had spilled out into some roads while residents turned their noses up at the odors.

The little subdivision in Lutz had not received trash pickup since the days before Hurricane Irma roared into town. The same story played out in other parts of Pasco County, from Land O’ Lakes to New Port Richey and towns beyond. (For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Land O’ Lakes Patch. Click here to find your local Florida Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

For customers of Waste Connections, the company formerly known as Progressive Waste Solutions, officials say there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

“Today's the day we’re hopefully going to have everybody back on schedule,” John Battista, senior district manager for Waste Connections, told Patch Wednesday. “Everybody will be back on track Thursday.”

As of Wednesday, Battista said Waste Connections trucks and crews were still playing catch up from the storm. With thousands across Pasco without power for several days and trucks taken off the roads before and during the storm, that catch-up phase is daunting, he said.

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The west Pasco neighborhood of Gulf Harbors generally has about 12 tons of trash on a normal pickup day. Battista said haulers picked up more than 60 tons after the storm. The Connerton neighborhood in Land O’ Lakes generally requires about two, maybe three hours to pick up. The company’s recent run through the community took two entire days, he added.

“We’re getting there as fast as we can,” assured Kurt Salac, division president. “We need for everybody to be patient.”

Salac said the “sheer volume” of trash at the curbs following the storm is putting the hauler behind. Once trucks are full, crews have to leave to dump before they can return.

After the “first wave” of post-storm trash pickup is completed, both Salac and Battista said customers can expect a return of their normal collection days. For many, both men said, that will begin Thursday and Friday.

For more information about waste haulers in Pasco, visit the county’s website.

Patch photo by Sherri Lonon