EVERETT, Wash. -- When Rick Sinnitt moved into the Mark on 4th apartments three days ago, he didn't think to check out the dumpsters.
Now, he wishes he had.
"I'm still kind of soaking it in," he said. "Where have I moved?"
At the complex's lone garbage collection area, trash is piled higher than your head. Rotting fruit litters the ground next to an old television.
"I wouldn't send my kid out here to take out the trash," said Sinnitt.
Tenants at the Mark on 4th are charged a $20 per month trash fee.
"We should have all of that money refunded for the past year," said one resident, who wished to remain anonymous.
This has been going on since September, when video showed the trash compactor overflowing, garbage spilling into the street. At that time, management said the problem was a vendor who was just tossing the trash over the fence.
Now, it appears many tenants are doing the same thing.
On Tuesday, two tenants were spotted throwing dog waste and pizza boxes onto the huge garbage pile, instead of into the compactor. The compactor was nearly full, but still had room.
"It definitely is a two-way street," said Sinnitt. "If people are bringing it up to the management that's on them. If they're not disposing of their trash properly, it's also on the tenants, too."
Neighbors say the lone compactor and recycling bin simply aren't enough for the thousand or so people who live at the complex.
Management says they do plan to bring in a larger recycling dumpster and make other make improvements next year.
For now, folks are just hoping to get through Christmas.
"It's gonna be really bad," said Sinnitt. "Between leftovers, food, wrapping paper. It's gonna be a nightmare."
