Beset with a spike in debris as a result of recent storms, Georgia’s Effingham County opted to hire three crews of prisoners from the Effingham County Prison to help hauler Republic Services catch up with a backlog of household trash pickup.
Trash pickup has been delayed and the county has noted a rise in complaints about missed pickups, destroyed cans, not replacing the cans and hydraulic leaks from Republic trucks. The rise in complaints spurred the county’s creative solution.
WSAV.com has more:
New County Administrator Steve Davis started his job days before Irma hit and asked Republic to notify their customers about a storm plan.
“We asked for Republic to put it on social media. And that was never done,” he said.
Before the storm, the county had decided to cut ties with Republic with a 180 day notice. Since the storm Davis says the county has received more than 350 calls regarding the lack of trash pickup. He decided to take matters into his own hands.
His solution? Prisoners.
