MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Is it a shopping center or a dumping ground?
That’s the latest question from people living near a massive buildup of trash in Frayser.
They said they are sick and tired of it, so they contacted WREG.
“Everything we can think of is out here. It’s out here,” said concerned citizen Jay Hunter Tuesday afternoon.
He’s not exaggerating.
Looking around you’ll see tires, old entertainment centers, old clothes and box after box of discarded waste.
Hunter, who lives across the street from the dumpsite behind the Frayser Village Shopping Center, is not only concerned about how this looks.
He said there are health issues too especially with Kroger located just feet away.
“You see rats running around here. All types of rodents. I’m not even familiar with some of the creatures,” Hunter said.
Of course there’s the big things you can easily see like mattresses, tires and pallets, but there’s also some of the smaller things like unused prescription labels, tops and bottles.
“This is a place of business. This is a shopping complex,” Hunter said.
Hunter told WREG sometimes the trash is so bad he goes elsewhere to shop.
Other people we talked to say Frayser has been forgotten, and it’s not fair to people living there and are exposed to the mess.
“This is what we have going on. This stuff happens all day,” explained another woman.
WREG tracked down the operations manager associated with Azad Commercial Realty, out of the Houston area, who oversees the shopping center.
They said they’re aware of the problem and plan to try and get in touch with a contracted company to clean up the site.
The operations manager, Randy Knight, said he hopes to have it done as soon as possible.
He said the company has dealt with this problem before but investing in cameras is costly.
Hunter hopes the trash is cleaned up soon.
“This is stronghold in the south, and this city should be thriving because there’s so much going on and so many possibilities. It’s the river city. There’s so much beauty around it. How could they have this in it? In the city you know?” Hunter asked.
We showed images of the waste to a spokesperson with the city of Memphis.
She told us the dumping is illegal and the city plans to send a code enforcement officer to the location on Wednesday.
WREG also talked to a spokesperson with Kroger.
She said their associates have stepped up to clean the area on a number of occasions and they’ve also talked to the landlord about keeping it clean in the past.
To report illegal dumping in the city call 311 or 901- 636 -6500 or you can visit the city’s website.
