JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Residents at a Westside apartment complex say their trash hasn't been picked up in a couple of weeks and their dumpster is overflowing, attracting flies and wild animals, and creating a foul smell and dangerous conditions for kids playing near it.
"It's ridiculous," resident Persia Peters said. "You smell trash, come outside, trash, trash on the floor. And what do I do with my trash? Throw it too. What am I supposed to do with it?"
"It is disgusting," resident Natalie Alaniz said. "I can't stand looking at it. It really changes the look of the entire complex."
Channel 4's Hailey Winslow looked into the problem Tuesday at Lenox Court Apartments on Lenox Avenue and learned the complex is two months overdue on its garbage service payments.
Advanced Disposal said it hasn't serviced the complex because it owes them $6,000. The trash company said the complex has promised to pay several times over the phone and hasn't.
One resident said all the trash is attracting wild animals and kids.
"They were just playing in the food in the trash, and they could pick up any kind of germs that way," said the resident, who didn't want to be identified. "If there's needles in there, they can get stuck. They may try to find some old pills in a pill bottle, and they may try to take those pills, and that could danger their life, if not kill them."
Advanced Disposal agreed Tuesday to empty the dumpster on good faith that the complex overnight a check for just February like it promised to.
Residents hope that happens so they can say good riddance to the rest of the rubble.
"I pay my rent on time. I don't except to live amongst trash like this," one resident said.
Lenox Court management would not speak about the incident and said to contact its corporate office, which did not returned several calls for comment.