Gustav cleanup bill looms

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 2, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:00 a.m.

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The cleanup of debris from Hurricane Gustav along city-parish roadside rights of way is expected to cost $44 million.

The federal government is going to pick up at least 75 percent of that total, and Gov. Bobby Jindal is pushing federal officials to pick up the entire tab.

“Since we’ve received no reply so far, we have to assume the worst and that means we may have to write a check out for $11 million,” said Walter Monsour, the mayor’s chief administrative officer.

Monsour said the $44 million total doesn’t include debris picked up by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development along state roads, or the debris picked up along local roads in the cities of Baker, Central and Zachary.

Ceres Environmental Inc., the contractor hired by the city-parish to clean up storm debris, is slated to start its final swing through the parish on Nov. 10.

City-parish officials are warning residents to get all of their storm-related trash on the curb by then. Ceres plans to finish debris pickup by Nov. 30, and any remaining trash will then become the responsibility of the property owner.

Monsour said the city-parish has set aside surplus funds in a reserve fund dedicated to emergencies such as Hurricane Gustav.

“We’ve already spent more on debris alone from Gustav than we spent for all expenditure that were related to Hurricane Katrina three years ago,” Monsour said.

Katrina-related expenses included damages to the River Center that resulted from its use as a shelter, and the salaries and overtime paid to law enforcement officers to provide security there.

Monsour said Gustav also generated some unusual emergency expenses, such as the need to buy new uniforms for city police officers who had no way to launder their existing uniforms during the extensive power outages that followed the storm.

To date, Ceres crews have picked up more than 1.7 million cubic yards of debris from Hurricane Gustav, said Bob Hearn, the city-parish Department of Public Works engineer who is overseeing the post-storm clean-up.

Hearn said Ceres expects to complete its final pass by Sunday, Nov. 30, and is then scheduled to begin the final part of its contract — the removal of leaning trees, hanging branches and hazardous stumps within the city-parish roadside right of way.

Hearn said the only material that will be removed by Ceres during this final phase will be debris generated by removal of the leaners, hangers and stumps, Hearn said.