PITTSBURGH — In the City of Pittsburgh, all trash must be put in a bin with the lid closed, but one woman tells Channel 11 News that for weeks loose trash has been scattered in front of her Regent Square home, and the culprit is her neighbor.
Homeowner Melissa Bakht said she was out of town when she got an unexpected notification from the City of Pittsburgh warning her that she would be fined hundreds of dollars for scattered trash in front of her garage.
Unaware of what was going on, she returned home, to find a mess.
“The garbage wasn’t just behind my house, it was spread all the way out into the street because none of the garbage bags were actually tied shut,” she told Channel 11.
Afraid of being fined she began taking pictures of when the trash would appear, and almost weekly there was trash dumped.
“They are the thin clear plastic bags, I don’t even know who buys those — I think you get those from an office — they are just meant for paper because they just rip,” Bakht said.
After weeks of trying to identify the culprit, Bakht got her answer from an old Amazon box left inside one of the trash bags.
“When I flipped the box over, which was filled with Cup of Noodles, I saw the name on it and I immediately took a picture and emailed the garbage inspector for the city,” she said.
Her neighbor had been dumping in front of her home and left this note behind for Bakht.
The note read:
“To whoever for seven months I have been leaving my trash in the same spot. I was told to leave it when I moved here in March. Report or do what you must, not doing anything wrong…”
Dumbfounded she tried to confront the neighbor to clear up the confusion but was unsuccessful. We tried on her behalf, but again we got no answer when we rang the doorbell. Bakht told us she had to call the police; officers made the neighbor clean up the mess.
But now Bakht tells us she wants them to just make her stop dumping.
The Department of Public Works is continuing to look into this issue.
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