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Neighbors Want Sacramento County Recycling Center Shuttered

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) — Neighbors want to shut down a Sacramento County recycling center, calling it a magnet for crime.

The people who use the center at Watt and El Camino avenues say they can't afford to have it shut down because they depend on it for cash.

"It's hard to find jobs nowadays. It's really hard," said Sam Chaham.

The system is simple, they recycle, they get money. But complicating the issue is what neighbors say the center is attracting.

"We find needles and trash all the time," said Amanda Scales with Diamond Dental of Sacramento. "Feces. It's pretty bad."

Just blocks away, residents complain the center is actually recycling a continuous stream of crime and blight. Broken bottles and abandoned shopping carts are littered on the streets.

Some employees at Diamond Dental say they don't feel safe walking through the parking lot.

"You don't know what state of mood they're going to be in because sometimes they're erratic and yelling things," said Tiffany Wiley.

Now, some residents and business owners are asking the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to shut it down. They recently voiced their concerns at the Arden-Arcade Community Planning Advisory Council

Mel Grant lives just a block away from the center. She hopes there's a compromise to keep the center up and running.

"Shutting it down is ridiculous," she said. "We all need a place to recycle that's close and local for the people that live in this neighborhood."

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