DPW Cleans Up Needles, Human Waste, And Debris From Canal Street Bus Station
Updated: Jan 8, 2023
Manchester, NH - Several trucks and personnel from the Department of Public Works converged on the abandoned bus stop at the corner of Canal and Granite Street to attempt to clean up the area.
The bus stop has become one of several places that people now use for sheltering from the rain and nightly line up around the covered areas. When they clear out for the day large piles of trash, needles and human waste remain on the ground.
Wednesday workers used shovels, rakes, and Haz Mat containers to remove needles. Dozens of needles could be seen on the ground with brown liquid coming from some of the needles. Several piles of human waste were picked up and removed, after completing the task workers used sanitizing spray on their shoes and clothes.
Earlier Wednesday Manchester Police supervised the weekly clean up on Manchester Street outside of the Families In Transition shelter. The sidewalk area is now covered with over 40 tents with about 60 people living in them.
A woman died inside one of the tents on Christmas day, and two people were stabbed early in the morning on December 31st.
The Mayor of Manchester issued a press release early in the week placing blame on the State of New Hampshire. Later in the day, Governor Sununu responded in a letter outlining several points about how money distributed to the city has been spent, or remains available but not spent.
Tuesday at a very heated meeting of the Board of Mayor and Alderman several downtown business owners spoke for over an hour on how their businesses are negatively impacted and the issue is going to drive some of them out of downtown.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said 21 arrests were made outside of the shelter. A heated debate about the legalities of having police remove the encampments resulted in a session behind closed doors, and out of public view.
Wednesday the Mayor issued a press release saying the Emergency Operation Center for Manchester will open Friday and the Cashin Senior Center will begin to be open at night on Friday for individuals. The Cashin center will be staffed by police officers and firefighters.
©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news
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