ST. LOUIS – Freddie Johnson keeps a clean backyard that stretches from her home on Osage Street back to an alley.

“We spend money to try to keep it like this. The kids come down and play,” she said.

Johnson has lived there for almost 20 years, where she relishes the role of grandma.

“We don’t want them to come down here and touch anything because, you know, the kids wander,” she said. “And then the smell; the smell is horrible. Then you’ve got mosquitoes; you got all these bugs.”

The source of those problems are two dumpsters in the alley directly behind her home.

“Not only do we have to clean up our yard, we’ve got to clean up here if we want to get back here,” Johnson said.

The city says alley dumpsters are emptied at least once per week, but it is not happening frequently enough to avoid trash piling up in the alley and around Johnson’s driveway. The recycling bin itself even overlaps the driveway. It does not leave much room for a car to get through the alley or for Johnson to have full access to her driveway.

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It’s been a constant battle for years in St. Louis, with FOX 2 reporting at times on broken-down trucks and a lack of workers. Alderwoman Cara Spencer has been to Johnson’s home herself to see the issue.

“We need to get serious about hiring the people that we need to pick up the trash on a regular basis and right now our refuse department is woefully understaffed, but we need to make sure that they have the right equipment too,” Spencer said.

So, Johnson says she hopes the city will fix the underlying problem.

“This is going to be reoccurring because everybody pass through here can see it, they dump it and keep moving,” Johnson said.

FOX 2 reached out to the city’s refuse division and the mayor’s office.

“This is a frustrating situation that we hope to swiftly put an end to, as no one should have to live with other people’s trash being dumped in and around their containers,” city spokesperson Rasmus Jorgensen said. “While the immediate problem has been resolved, the city will investigate the situation further. If it appears that what is occurring qualifies as illegal dumping, the issue will be handed over to the SLMPD.”

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