It’s a topic that won’t go away and has public health implications (in addition to the profoundly undesirable optics): The timely and proper removal of human feces located on public and private property. The issue has become increasingly worse as thousands are experiencing homelessness and living on the streets.
Albuquerque City Councilors directed a series of concerns and frustrations about it toward city officials Wednesday night during a meeting at City Hall.
Councilors said the city isn’t correctly following a resolution it passed last year that resulted in a contract with biohazard company Specialized General Services (SGS) to respond to feces removal calls through the 311 system.
After an initial $100,000 earmarked for SGS was quickly used up last year, another $200,000 was budgeted for 2025. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Matthew Whelan said an additional $65,000 has already been spent on top of that. Whelan, who bore the brunt of the Council’s criticisms, said the city’s Solid Waste Department had begun to take on more responsibility for removals for cost effectiveness.
“We’re constantly addressing operational needs, based on our cost and based on our resources, and the cost for SGS was extremely high for us to continue to use them,” Whelan told City Desk ABQ on Thursday. “So being that we do have resources internally that can be used, we were able to get some additional equipment and start addressing some of those calls ourselves.”
Councilor Nichole Rogers, however, is concerned about whether Solid Waste employees are properly trained and following safety and disposal protocols — something SGS specializes in. She produced a short video that was broadcast on TV screens during the meeting which showed city workers at a recent feces cleanup without the requisite gear.
Rogers, who has previously held health and wellness positions at University of New Mexico Hospital and Central New Mexico Community College, said she was troubled that the workers were not using proper personal protective equipment.
“The [resolution] specifically says that you’ll have the right person, the right contractor, do that work properly,” Rogers said to Whelan.
Whelan insisted that the city’s Solid Waste teams are properly trained.
“We have been cleaning feces for a long time. We do have trainers that train our Solid Waste people all the time,” he said.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, a cosponsor of last year’s resolution with Rogers, said she’d been told by the city on four separate occasions that there was money available in the city budget for SGS to continue its work.
“The resolution that we passed specifically says that the city administration shall develop and administer a program to collect feces, including engaging with and supervising a contractor specializing in removing and disposing potentially hazardous material,” she said. “That’s what the resolution says. That’s what we did, and now we are moving away from that.”
Councilors Joaquín Baca and Louie Sanchez said constituents have been frustrated by a slow response, or a lack of response, to cleanup calls in their districts.
“Why are we bypassing [SGS]? They do the job correctly and that’s what the constituents are asking for,” Sanchez said. “We were under the impression that the work was going to continue to get done.”
Sanchez suggested that the city was retaliating against SGS because of dueling presentations on the proper methods of feces removal at a previous Council meeting. Whelan said Thursday that those charges were “baseless.”
But despite Whelan’s insistence that city employees are property trained, Rogers said those in the video were placing themselves at risk.
“I know from also being trained in blood borne pathogens what can be spread in human feces if it’s not handled correctly, and it can be a huge exposure; there can be hepatitis,” she said. “There’s so many things that can be transmitted through human feces. So for me, this is just about us getting it right so nobody gets hurt.”
Focus on public restrooms
Meanwhile, the high demand and high expense of feces removal continues to place a spotlight on an obvious, if complicated, solution: More public restrooms in the city. But officials couldn’t agree Wednesday on what was currently available.
“How many public restrooms do we have?” Councilor Dan Champine asked Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel.
“Depending on the time of year [there are] different numbers based upon staff that are maintaining those, but for instance, we have 18 parks that have 24/7 restrooms,” she said. “We also have multiple facilities across the city that have restrooms during the day.”
Champaine said he’d recently attended a meeting with Mayor Tim Keller, who said the city had 127 public restrooms.
“So I’m just confused,” he said. Sengel said she’d get the correct number.
For more: A dearth of public bathrooms is more than just an inconvenience
Besides public libraries and community centers — with restroom facilities and staff that are sometimes overwhelmed due to demand — those experiencing homelessness regularly look to city parks for options. But out of approximately 156 city parks, only 13 offered restrooms as of last summer — whether a permanent structure, portable toilet or vault toilet (like what’s commonly seen at state or national parks). In addition, most of those 13 options are located away from where those living on the streets typically congregate — namely the International District and Downtown.
The city’s sole 24/7, 365-day-a-year public restroom is located in Fiebelkorn’s district at the Uptown Transit Center near Coronado Center.