Neil Bonneville has been collecting trash from nine different communities in Penobscot County for the last 19 years.
But in recent years, his job as the owner of Maine Waste Systems has become a health hazard because of one thing: human waste.
Residents of Alton, Old Town and other nearby communities have been putting human waste out on the curb for trash collection, Bonneville said. The problem has become so bad that the town of Alton issued a warning on Facebook this week that “it has to stop.” It comes about a month after the city of Old Town similarly shared that there have been “buckets of feces” being put out on the curb.
If the waste continues to be thrown out like this, trash pick-up contracts might not be renewed or could have higher prices because of the risks involved for collectors, Alton selectman John Belding said. The offending towns are breaking those contracts because human waste is prohibited from being picked up.
The problem began during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Bonneville, who added it’s happening in all nine of the communities he picks up trash in. He believes it mostly stems from people living in campers or tiny homes that don’t have functional septic systems.
The waste being put out for collection is a health and safety issue. Waste sprays out from bags when Bonneville crushes the trash in the back of his truck, he said. Collectors and sorters can become sick with illnesses like C. diff, which is caused by a bacteria that infects the colon after contact with human waste, according to Bonneville.
It’s also hard to get workers when human waste is involved, Bonneville said.
“People don’t mind getting maggots on them, but they don’t want other people’s waste getting on them,” he said.
If someone does not have a septic system set up, they could dispose of their waste at a dump station instead, Bonneville said. Proposed solutions such as mandating residents use clear trash bags might not work because people are already hiding their waste in smaller bags, he said.
Bonneville suggested stricter code enforcement on campers and houses without septic systems as a way to stop the problem.
Enforcement is difficult because of changing state regulations and accessibility into houses, said Philip Stevens, the plumbing inspector and code enforcement officer in Alton.
Stevens has tried to figure out who is putting human waste out for collection in Alton and hasn’t found a culprit due to hurdles like group collection sites and not being allowed in people’s homes.
He said the best way to get people to stop is to inform them of the health risks and how they can solve it. Residents can have different systems, including everything from outhouses to septic tanks, as ways to safely dispose of waste.
Mostly, citizens need to know why they shouldn’t throw their bodily waste out to the curb.
“You have to make people understand why this is important,” Stevens said. “It’s public safety.”
