Grimes County residents facing issues with trash pickup

GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) -Residents in Richards are dealing with their trash not getting picked up for weeks at a time.

The residents are getting billed on time but the pick-up doesn’t happen on time. This has left residents fed up.

Live Oak Environmental took over the public waste company that served the Grimes County area several months ago. Since then, residents say there hasn’t been consistent trash pick up.

KBTX spoke with Richards resident, Margie Kerchner, who said she was getting charged monthly but their trash has not been getting picked up.

“This has been going on for 2 months now I think, you can drive up and down the area and you see people’s trash overflowing and it’s just not right,” said Kerchner.

Richards resident, Dom Brame, said he waited over a month to have his trash picked up.

“I tried to call them and said ‘Hey you know I paid for a month but you haven’t picked up (my trash). I think you need to give me credit for the next month.’ In other words, I haven’t gotten the service I have paid for,” said Brame.

Customers say they can rarely get in contact with the trash company and when they do, they get empty promises.

With no answers from Live Oaks Environmental, the new trash service, they’re forced to consider other, less than ideal, options.

“I waited for a long time on hold and I was reading a Facebook post where people waited half an hour or longer and I thought, I am not going to do this, it’s not my job to chase down somebody that I pay to do work, to see if they’ll come to do the work that I pay them to do, I feel like they should get in touch with me,” said Brame. “So I think if they don’t receive a payment for a while, I’ll probably hear from them.”

The Area Vice President for Live Oak Environmental sent KBTX a statement addressing the issue:

“Live Oak Environmental would like to address the inadequate garbage service previously experienced by Grimes County residents, formerly served by public waste. We apologize to our valued customers and are dedicated to reaching the standard of service you expect. The setbacks in service recovery after Hurricane Beryl have been demanding, but we assure you that the necessary adjustments have been implemented and anticipate a prompt enhancement in service quality.”

KBTX also spoke with Grimes County Judge, Joe Fauth, who said he was unaware of the situation.

“Now if there are citizens in Richards that have private service, and it’s irregular, it’s not what it’s supposed to be, I would certainly start searching for a new service to pick up that trash for them,” said Fauth.

Fauth said residents who are dealing with trash pickup issues can drop their trash off at one of the 5 public trash collection centers in the county.