The St. Helena Parish Police Jury president wants to cancel the parish’s contract with Amwaste.
The president says the local residential waste pickup utility can not fix a slew of problems that became worse after Hurricane Ida blew through the parish on Aug. 29.
A shortage of truck drivers, a fourfold increase in trash put out after the storm and countless felled trees across the rural parish left some people without garbage pickup for weeks.
Along La. 16, in the southwest pocket of the parish, trash built up for days, said Police Jury President Frank E. Johnson. But he said the problems existed before the hurricane.
To correct the issues, Amwaste added more drivers in St. Helena and switched from running routes there solely on Thursday and Friday to operating five days each week.
St. Helena’s contract with Amwaste pays the company about $67,500 per month to pick up residential trash. The company has 2 1/ 2 more years before that deal expires, but the Police Jury has the power to cancel the contract if the panel were to find that Amwaste hasn’t met the agreement.
