If you live anywhere within a quarter mile of any businesses you may be awakened as early as 4:30 in the morning by a loud bang that sounds like a bombing exploding and not understand why, since the business is closed at that hour. THE REASON is private trash hauling companies who are emptying dumpsters.

The city of Lawton cannot collect trash before 8 a.m., and even Fort Sill cannot start shooting their guns before 6 a.m. and usually do not start before 7 or 8.

BUT PRIVATE trash collection starts even before 4:30 a.m.! I called the city of Lawton sanatation department and they said there is no special permission given to private companies to make such noise at that hour. I called the city code enforcement and they said the same thing. And they both told me that if I am being awakened at that hour I should call the police and file a complaint. But that is something most people will not do. The city should  make an ordinance against trash pickup before 8 a.m.

I called the trash company and they said they had to empty at those hours because of cars being parked around the dumpsters, but most businesses close at 5-6 p.m. and some at 7 and some at 8 and almost all by 9 p.m. so there is lots of evening hours when that can be done. Also, most dumpsters are at the BACK of businesses where there are few cars. And restaurants do not have many customers between 2-4 p.m. so there is no good excuse for waking people up several times a week just for the convenience of a trash company.

I have double-pain windows and I can still hear it!

Help make Lawton a better place to live and complain to your city council member and the mayor.