Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 10-21-22

Feature
Solid Waste Department Is Working 7-Days A Week Picking Up Debris From Hurricane Ian
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
The City of Tampa was spared major devastation from Hurricane Ian, however, there was a significant amount of storm debris throughout the entire city.
Most of the storm debris is “vegetative debris,” meaning tree limbs, branches, bushes, and similar materials.
Larry Washington, Di- rector of Department of Solid Waste & Environmental Man- agement, states the depart- ment is doing a lot to clean up Tampa while maintaining its regular schedule of pickups. The only service being delayed right now is the S.W.E.E.P. ef- fort, which will be restored
after the crisis.
Washington stated that
despite starting after the as- sessment of the damage, the earliest possible day a collec- tion of this magnitude could take up to 60 days to com- plete.
“As of today, we’ve col- lected roughly 16,000 of the 60,000 – 80,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris,” Wash- ington says.
“We are asking the citizens of Tampa to be patient with us. We are also handling veg- etative storm damage for New Tampa, which is typically han- dled by the county.”
There are two private con- tractors assisting with vegeta- tive storm debris collection. A total of thirty trucks are now
LARRY A. WASHINGTON ... City of Tampa’s Director of Tampa Solid Waste Depart-
ment
working throughout all dis- tricts. The contractors are from out of state and couldn’t travel to Tampa until after the storm.
Washington asked that customers segregate their nor- mal yard waste from storm debris – it should not be com- mingled with regular waste. He also stated that storm de- bris does not have to be cut down to 4-foot lengths, nor bagged.
Regular containerized veg- etation will be collected by the Yard Waste team on your nor- mal Yard Waste collection day.
Washington empha- sizes, “Collection of vegetative storm debris is being facili- tated by emergency response grids. Grids were assessed and triaged by contractors and emergency response teams. Grids with the most vegetative storm related debris are being
cleared first.”
Alternately, residents with
a valid license and matching utility bill have the option to self-haul storm related debris to the McKay Bay Transfer Station, free of charge.
In the case of an emergency, if a customer is concerned that debris is blocking a roadway or driveway, they should call the Solid Waste Customer Service professionals at 813- 274-8811.
To view collection progress, our customers may go to www.TAMPA.GOV/SOLI DWASTE to view the de- bris collection map, showing what has been completed, in progress, or planned next.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 7-A