NewsWest 9
Bags, boxes, and bottles all piling up on major highways and roads. Clean up crews say the trash is making their jobs almost impossible and now they're asking for your help.
"We have trash blowing around the city because of the wind," Doreen Womack, Executive Director of Keep Midland Beautiful, said.
It's caught on trees, buried in tall grass and lining the sidewalks. Litter is piling up in the Tall City wreaking havoc for the crews having to clean it up.
"It makes for a very unsightly Fall," Womack said.
The piles are growing after the state made some cutbacks.
"There have been some cutbacks and the mowers aren't mowing as often anymore," Womack said.
The problem areas are Highway 191, Highway 80, Loop 250 and the Interstate.
City crews tell NewsWest 9, part of the problem is that people forget to close the lids and on windy days the trash blows out and onto streets all over town.
"Anytime the wind blows, it's a big problem for us and anybody else," Morris Williams, Superintendent of Midland Solid Waste, said. "Trash gets out of those containers, out of the trucks, it gets to blowing around and gets out in the field and caught on mesquite bushes and such."
But not only is there more trash, there's less volunteers to help pick it all up.
"There have also been cutbacks with employees and companies. People are working twice as much and companies coming out to be involved in our cleanup have decreased," Womack said.
And right now, they're trying to remind Midlanders to be careful.
"What we want to stress is that it's more important than ever especially when you get tall grass to secure your trash," Womack said.
