Final Debris-Clearing Pass Begins Monday; All Tree Debris Should Be Piled at Curb

The contractor removing tree debris from Tulsa in the wake of the December ice storm is finishing the second pass through Tulsa neighborhoods and plans to begin the third and final pass on Monday, March 10.

“It is important that Tulsans bring any tree debris they still have in their yards to the curb where it can be picked up by the contractor,” said Deputy Public Works Director Dan Crossland, who is overseeing the debris removal and disposal operations. “After the third and final pass is completed, there will be no more opportunities to have the city’s contractor haul away your tree limbs. So it is important to get the debris moved to the curbs by Monday,” Crossland said.

Debris should be piled in the right-of-way, which extends several feet past the curb in most areas, but not in the street.  It should not be piled beneath low-hanging branches of living trees or too close to fences, mail boxes, utility equipment or other obstructions which would prevent removal crews from accessing it with mechanical grapplers.

Vehicles should not be parked in front of debris piles because the crews cannot reach the debris if it is blocked by parked cars.

The debris removal contractor hauled 2,288 cubic yards of limbs Sunday, bringing the total since operations began in early January to 2,325,043 cubic yards.  That is enough to cover 363 football fields three feet deep.

The city is paying $3.79 per cubic yard for hauling and the total bill so far is $8,811,913 and growing.  That does not include the cost of monitoring operations or the cost of grinding the tree limbs into mulch and hauling it away for disposal.

The contractor reported that the second pass is nearing completion and a third pass will begin sometime in early March. Tulsa residents be given as much as a week in which to haul remaining debris to the curb before the third pass begins.  Work on the second pass will continue for several more days, he said.

The mulch-grinding contractor Sunday  hauled 5,273 cubic yards of wood chips from Johnson Park to a rural disposal site where it is being mixed with topsoil.  So far some 86,224 cubic yards have been hauled away from the Johnson Park temporary disposal site.  That is enough to cover 13-1/2 football fields with wood chips three feet deep. The cost is $4.68 per cubic yard for a total, so far, of $403,528.

The City expects that much of the debris removal costs will be reimbursed by the federal government through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).                               

Anyone with questions or who believes their property was missed when haulers worked on their streets can report it to the Mayor’s Action Center at 596-2100.