City says reports of discarded needles are considered an 'emergency'

Two women are upset about how long it took to get discarded needles cleaned up at a public park in Greater Sudbury.

ChantaeRobinson and Francisca Anosikewere out for a morning walk along the Boardwalk at Bell Park Monday morning whenthey came across a large pile of debris, which included several discarded needles.

Anosike says she called9-1-1 because she didn't know what to do and felt the mess was a safety hazard. She says the operator was rude and abrupt and told them they'd have to call the city's 3-1-1 number.

"I could have ignored it, but no, I think it's dangerous to other people. So I didn't know who to call. So I just called 9 1 1 because that's the only number I know," she said.

Robinson says it then took city crews almost two hours to arrive. The two decided to stay "until they move this ... because this is wrong.You can't have children seeing this. This needs to be picked up immediately."

Both women moved to Sudbury as students and have made the city their home.They say they love Sudbury, but are not pleased with how they were treated when they called to report someone else's mess.

In an e-mailed statement to CBC, the city said reports like this one areconsideredan emergency case. The city's usual service response time is about two hours and a worker came within that timeframe to clean up the needles and other debris.

If needles are found on private property, the city says it will refer the caller to IDU Community Support which picks up needles on private property.