Three weeks after Hurricane Sandy slammed Long Beach, garbage and debris removal is still a concern for residents.
The West End and the Canals on Monday appeared to have the most remaining debris of any neighborhood in the city on Monday.
“What we are seeing is a complete breakdown in communication between the city and its residents regarding sanitation,” resident Gary Pollakusky told Patch on Nov. 15. Pollakusky created a Facebook page, Citizens for Long Beach, eighteen months ago for residents to use as a gateway to City Hall and vice versa.
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City Manager Jack Schnirman said that debris removal and management are two of the major components of disaster recovery, and that the city wants to assist residents whose homes were flooded with to clean up and rebuild.
“What makes it difficult is that a huge percentage of our residents gutted their houses at the exact [same time] and put all of that construction demolition and debris out on the street,” Schnirman said. “This creates a monstrous debris removal challenge, which we have been addressing.”
The city’s post-Sandy updates, released the daily since the day after the storm, stated that residents must separate debris and trash by certain categories, from bagged household trash, which the city is responsible for removing, and construction and demolition debris, which residents would have to hire private contractors to remove. But the city has offered some leeway.
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“This material that the city would not ordinarily take, during this special time, of course, we are making the extra effort to take it,” said Schnirman, who asked for residents' patience.
Throughout Long Beach and other local areas, residents have voiced their worries about air quality and potential health effects due to the debris. Councilman Michael Fagen said garbage removal has become a public health issue and the city needs to deal with it quickly.
“I have heard people’s concern about the air quality and I would like to see some testing done and the results of those tests,” Fagen said on Monday.
Schnirman said that Hazmat teams have been used when necessary, and the city is working closely with both state and federal agencies to assure public safety. He said he has taken several trips to hard hit neighborhoods, such as the West End and East End, to talk with residents and listened to their concerns.
While resident Donna Doyle Farrell, writing on Patch on Monday, said that the city is “working hard to restore and rebuild,” she remains concerned about the debris on her block.
“I am on Washington Boulevard, north of Park Avenue, and we still have debris that was put on the curb only three days after the storm,” she added. “We have not seen a sanitation truck yet.”
On Saturday and Sunday the city brought in additional garbage trucks, knuckle boom trucks and similar vehicles, from areas such as Huntington, North Hempstead and Glen Cove, to assist in the recovery effort.
“At the end of each work day I drive around the entire city and I have seen tremendous progress since Friday,” Schnirman said.
On Monday morning, some residents, including Donna Colorio, commented on the city’s Facebook page about recent improvements. “Every time I drive home to bring my son back to school, Long Beach looks better every day,” she wrote.
On Monday morning, the Citizens of Long Beach Facebook page stated: “Cleanup in the West End is finally full on.” The page thanked its followers and noted, “The citizens of the West End have showed that they have a large voice and will continue to have one as we move forward.”
The city manager said that on streets where considerable debris has accumulated, it can take up to six hours to clean just three houses, and that it is difficult for the city to provide a timetable for debris removal. According to its updates, the city estimates that it will have to clear more than 300,00 yards of material due to the hurricane and is removing about 10,000 yards of debris from city streets every day.
“It is important for all of us to remember that we all want to return to as normal operations as fast as possible, that is the goal,” Schnirman said. “Unfortunately, just because we have the lights back on does not mean we are back to normal right away, it is a gradual process.”
This story was written by Joley Welkowitz.
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