As snow piles gradually melted Tuesday, uncollected garbage piles produced a stink of frustration.
Some suburban homeowners have gone two weeks or more without trash collection because trucks were unable to negotiate icy and snowpacked roads.
“It’s really getting gross,” said Broomfield resident Toni Schiavone. “We are a family of five people, and I won’t kid you, we have a whole lot of trash out there.”
Her trash was last picked up Dec. 15 by Allied Waste Services, one of the metro area’s largest haulers. She said she has in front of her house four full garbage cans and eight large trash bags, some of which have been pillaged by animals.
The city of Denver, which provides municipal g`arbage service, was largely back on schedule this week. But in suburbs without municipal service, some customers using private trash firms had uninterrupted service while others had growing piles of garbage.
Allied Waste customers David and Asha Kawamoto of Westminster finally gave up and signed a new contract Tuesday with Waste Management after going 2 1/2 weeks without trash collection.
Allied Waste general manager Mike Dempsey said the firm is trying its best.
“We’re focusing on getting priority service to our customers who have gone the longest without service,” he said. “It’s really tough. We’re out there on residential streets that haven’t even been plowed from the first storm.”
Dempsey said his crews worked on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and he hopes to have all customers served and on schedule by next week.
Rich Polmiller, operations manager for Eagle Waste, said customers don’t understand that trash trucks have unique challenges.
While cars, SUVs and light trucks typically can drive on top of packed snow and ice, he said, loaded trash trucks will break through the surface and become stuck.
Dempsey said his firm, serving residential customers in south metro Denver, has spent an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 for tire chains, payroll overtime and to tow stuck trucks.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
