Piles of garbage are popping up in some pockets of north Minneapolis, posing a health and safety risk for residents.

City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the city needs to hire more staff to help clean up and eliminate the problem.

“It’s a public health hazard and it’s a public safety hazard. Right? We got a lot of issues because we don’t know what’s in this, you know, like where it came from,” Vetaw said.

Kathryn Hinnekamp lives right next to a commercial parking lot that has a pile of illegal trash in it. She says she feels less safe and worries more about her safety with it so close to her home.

“I think it’s disgusting, and I pay rent to live in this neighborhood,” Hinnenkamp said. “And I am renting a house down the street, actually in a week, and now I am kind of questioning if I should take back my security deposit.”

Vetaw said the city needs to hire more staff to handle the problem and help also, she said, needs to come from people who witness someone illegally dumping trash.

“I want to get more staff in Regulatory Services. They need more help in that department,” Vetaw said. “If neighbors get a photo or a video of a license plate, of the license plate of the vehicle that’s dumping, then if they report that to 311, or my office, we send out a citation.”