South LA church begs city to pick up abandoned trash cans emitting foul stench

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A South Los Angeles church is begging for help with abandoned trash bins that are emitting a foul stench just steps away from the building.

Pastor Pauline Dudley, who has been at El Shaddai Prayer and Deliverance Center for 20 years, has observed a decline in city services in the neighborhood.

"These containers keep showing up. There's tons of trash - it's piling up, and people think it's okay to dump there because trash is already there," Dudley said.

On Tuesday, there were about six bins left on Vermont Avenue, but photos from just last week show up to 21 colorful bins oozing colorful smells.

"The smell was horrible, it reminded me of sewage," said churchgoer Charlayne Browe.

Dudley has called 311 countless times and has even posted on Facebook to encourage church members to do the same.

According to the pastor, since she's operating the church out of a commercial building, she's required by the city to pay for trash services every month - which is nearly a $250 bill. Her trash cans were stolen in March, yet she's still paying every month and nothing has been done about the abandoned bins.

"We as people shouldn't have to live like that, walking down the street and rats may appear. We have elderly people, we have handicapped people and we have children," Browe said.

Members of the church say they've reached out to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is soon to be the next president of the L.A. City Council. His field office is a block away from the church.

A statement from Harris-Dawson's office said, in part:

"Clean neighborhoods and streets are important to everyone. Our Office works with City Departments and our own strike teams to address hot spots of debris like this on a daily basis. LA Sanitation will pick up the remaining trash bins at the site. If local businesses or residents have a City service request we recommend that they call 311 or visit lacity.gov/myla311 to make a complaint. Keep your service request number and, if you have not received a timely response, call our field office where we have dedicated staff who can assist you."