Last year, the City of Huntington Park awarded a new contract for the hauling of the city’s trash to United Pacific Waste (UPW). Though UPW has only been in operation since the first of this year, residents allege that the company behind the new contract stinks—literally.
“Residents say garbage in some areas had piled up after Christmas, and others say the containers that United Pacific Waste provided were small, broken and in some cases came covered with maggots,” reads the LA Times.
Representatives from the city and UPW assert that issues faced by residents are simply logistical, and will be worked out over time.
The contract for United Pacific Waste (UPW) came under fire last summer when Mayor Rosa Perez called a special City Council meeting to add the company’s name to the official bidding list of contractors. UPW had not made the cut, as City Councilwoman Ofelia Hernandez had failed to vote for its inclusion on the list.
The rationale for calling the special meeting was chalked up to the Hernandez’ explanation that she had originally intended to vote to include UPW, but was mixed up by another company’s similar acronym (UWS).
The contract (below) was awarded to UPW to the tune of $40 million.
https://www.publicceo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/UPW.pdf
This isn’t the first time Huntington Park has come under fire for awarding waste management contracts. Read the full story at the LA Times.