EBR OKs debris contract

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Sep 6, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

City-parish officials signed an emergency contract Friday with Minnesota-based Ceres Environmental to provide debris-hauling services in East Baton Rouge Parish in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

“You all need to get your debris out by the road because we’re coming, and we’re coming fast,” Department of Public Works Director Pete Newkirk said.

“Our goal is to get all the debris to be cleaned up in 30 days, but the contractor will continue to work as long as possible to get the job done,” said Walter Monsour, chief administrative officer for Mayor-President Kip Holden.

Monsour said city-parish officials are expecting Ceres to pick up about 1 million cubic yards of storm debris, or about four times the amount collected after Hurricane Katrina.

The contract will pay Ceres $7.50 per cubic yard for the debris they pick up and take to local landfills, said Public Works administrator David Guillory, who is coordinating the debris-clearing efforts. Guillory said he expects the work to start Monday at the latest.

Guillory said a second contract was in the process of being let Friday for a company to monitor Ceres’ efforts in East Baton Rouge, and to certify the amount of debris they collect.

Neither contract will need the approval of the Metro Council because they were let after the state and federal governments declared an emergency in East Baton Rouge Parish, Assistant Parish Attorney Bob Abbott said.

Monsour said federal officials normally reimburse local governments for 75 percent of storm debris-clearing efforts. But Monsour said Gov. Bobby Jindal is pushing President George Bush and U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter to get the federal government to cover 100 percent of the debris cleanup.

In the meantime, Newkirk said, DPW crews picked up about 125 truckloads of storm debris Thursday and took it to staging areas for Ceres to transport to local landfills.

Newkirk said garbage pick-up resumed without any major hitches Thursday and Friday.

Residents who were scheduled to receive garbage service Thursday and Friday but did not get it should call the city-parish hot line at 311, Newkirk said.

He said his agency was able to jump-start road-clearing efforts immediately after Hurricane Gustav hit Baton Rouge on Monday.

“Normally, we have only a skeleton crew on hand during the storm, but this time we made the decision to bring in everybody and have them ride out the storm in our facilities,” Newkirk said.