Garbage Truck Spills Load in Golden Hill

Sometime between morning trash pick-up and 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 1, a loaded city trash truck malfunctioned and spilled most of its contents onto the street on the corner of 26th and A streets, near the Golden Hill Recreation Center and the southwestern edge of Balboa Park.

The northbound lane of 26th Street was closed to traffic, blocked by a trash-collection truck, a dump truck, and another truck. While a worker with a Bobcat pushed the spillage into a pile, another used a front loader to put the refuse into the waiting dump truck.

They filled a few trucks, and then at least four ground crew swept the remainder into a neat mound in anticipation of the arrival of the next truck.

When asked for additional information on the incident, Environmental Services Department spokesman Jose Ysea said, “You’ll have to call the mayor’s office. We’re not allowed to talk to people from the Reader.”