There were images from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Ian was a Category 4 storm when it hit southwestern Florida in late September. Over a month after Ian's landfall, residents are still trying to pick up the debris, and collection trucks are still removing piles of debris. The debris that litters the roads and fills people's homes doesn't go away.
A plan that was put in place before Ian became a topic of discussion includes details on who handles the debris and where it goes.
All of the debris removal in the cities and unincorporated areas of Lee County is done by a disaster recovery company.
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The debris is being ground up. |
The vice president of CrowderGulf told AccuWeather that the company is in charge of removing construction debris, electronic waste, household hazardous waste, and large appliances. When debris is collected and hauled, it goes to a site called a debris management site.
It is sorted into temporary rows once it arrives at the temporary storage and processing facility that was pre-approved before the storm hit. The end destination for each category of debris is different, so each type of debris is kept separate from the others.
The vegetation and construction debris are lined up in rows and fed into a grinder. There are many ways in which ground-up vegetation and construction debris can be recycled, but they have to be thrown away.
The types of landfills include municipal solid waste landfills and construction and demolition landfills. C&D types aren't required to have a liner in their landfills because it's not a federal requirement. Construction and demolition materials are supposed to be contained in C&D landfills, which do not pose a threat to the surrounding water.
Sometimes things can slip through the cracks despite Lee County asking residents to separate their debris into four different categories. The debris technical monitors are hired by the FEMA to make sure no hazardous or unwanted materials are put in the wrong category.
A civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working for FEMA. Smith makes sure that garbage bags and white goods don't end up in the C&D landfills.
It is important to monitor the items going into a C&D landfill because they are not required to be lined, which means if certain items are accidentally dumped in the landfill, chemicals from those appliances could end up in the water around the C&D landfill.
Smith told the reporter that he has nine temporary disposal sites that he is in charge of. I will make sure that everything is in line with FEMA guidelines. I will write a report on my observations at night and send it to FEMA.
Smith works to make sure the debris removal process runs smoothly.
If I have a question about this site, I'll call the operation managers' numbers and ask them to answer it for me. Smith made a statement. They've always been happy to answer my questions.
More than 1.67 million yards of debris have been collected in Lee County. According to the company, it will have picked up more than 3 million yards of debris from all of the areas it covers by Tuesday.
The daily pickup schedule for household garbage has been resumed. A lot of the garbage is dangerous and will go to a municipal solid waste landfill.
There aren't any potentially dangerous materials that are put into solid waste landfills because they are lined. The liners make these landfills more expensive to dispose of waste.
Several state agencies are working together to remove vessels and other debris from Lee County waterways.
The additional reporting was done by the person.
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