ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Hazmat crews spent Thursday cleaning an Albuquerque alley after someone dumped a pile of plastic bottles full of urine there.
The alley near Walter and High streets reeked of urine and upset neighbors.
“I backed up over a big pile. There was a pop. Liquid flew up and I could immediately smell what it was, because it was urine,” Rick Reycraft said. “It’s incredibly disgusting. This isn’t your average litter. This is toxic waste. Who knows what diseases could be in there?”
Reycraft said he called 311 after discovering the bottles early Tuesday morning. By Thursday, the mayor said the city was taking care of the problem.
“This morning I called Mayor Berry’s office, and I want to thank the mayor for getting on this fast,” he said.A crew from Rockefeller’s Cleaning and Restoration showed up Thursday in hazmat suits to clean the area.Reycraft said people often dump unwanted furniture in the alley.The city said homeowners are technically responsible for cleaning the alley, but it had to call a hazmat team because the cleanup dealt with bodily fluids.