Austin Resource Recovery continues to collect ‘unprecedented’ amounts of hurricane debris

Austin, Texas – Many residents are still waiting for Austin Resource Recovery to pick up hurricane debris two weeks after the ice storm hit.

Some neighbors say that the branches are a bit of an eyesore, but they understand that the crews have somewhere to go.

A tree damaged the roof of a South Austin resident.

“It was about 11 a.m. and all of a sudden the house is just, boom! He shook and we ended up in bed and it was a little scary,” said Aaron Zinn.

He says he’s from Chicago. “The trees here are a little more fragile than in other parts of the country,” he said.

Stacks of branches line the streets in many parts of the city.

“It’s a bit unsightly,” resident Nikki Birdsong said with a laugh. “Someone had something like this on the corner and it was really hard to see around to turn.”

Here is information from the city:

Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), a department of the City of Austin, is collecting unprecedented debris from the 2023 winter storm. In just one week of collection, the total tonnage of material collected during the 2021 winter storm was exceeded.

With a combined force of more than 70 employees and hired crews, ARR expects to complete the first of several passes through the city by the end of the first week of March, picking up storm debris. Many areas will likely need a second or third collection to clear all hurricane debris, and ARR expects these to be completed by April 30, 2023. After that, ARR will shift its focus from wide city passes and continue to collect as needed, strictly on special requests for hurricane debris collection made through Austin 3-1-1. This will last until June 30, 2023.

By February 16, over 34,828 tons of storm debris had been collected with 4,985 trucks. The ARR estimates that its first pass through the city is about half complete.

Currently, hurricane debris collection routes are based on the volume of service requests in the area. ARR uses area 3-1-1 service requests as a guide to determine which areas/regions have materials ready to be collected and should be served first. However, ARR will collect all rubbish from its customers that is properly placed on the side of the road, on the same street, regardless of whether the request was sent to a specific address.

ARR will only collect storm debris from its customers (single-family homes, duplexes, and four-family homes in Austin). If someone is not sure if they are an ARR client, they can look them up on the internet. If the address is not displayed as an ARR customer, their carrier’s name is usually printed on their trash and recycling carts; that’s who they should go to for hurricane debris removal options.

Whether or not they are ARR customers, Austin and Travis County residents can also dump hurricane debris (big tree limbs, small and large branches, shrubs and leaves) at the Hornsby Bend Biological Solids Management Plant in Austin Water (2210 FM 973, Austin, Texas). : receive opening hours and drop-off details. Through February 16, residents dumped more than 3,500 loads of hurricane debris at the site, totaling 1,382 tons.

Operations in some city parks

Austin residents should be aware that some of the city’s parks (Circle C Ranch Subway Park, Bolme District Park, and Old Manor Road) are being used by ARR contractors as temporary storage areas to clean up large branches and branches from trees in the neighborhood. After it is delivered to the park, the hurricane debris will be ground into mulch and transported to the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Processing Plant in Austin Water, where it will be used to create Dillo Dirt. ARR is working with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department to minimize the impact on park operations. Utilizing these locations helps ARR expedite its hurricane debris collection by providing a nearby location to unload truckloads of debris. These locations will remain active until the storm cleanup is completed, at which point the parks will return to normal.

These are not public pick-up points and contractors must have a city-issued contract and permission to use. Reset requires credential verification.

ARR thanks the Austinites for their patience as they work to rebuild our community.”

“I know they are overloaded right now. Hope they work as fast as they can. Obviously, I would like them to get out of here as soon as possible,” Zinn said. “At the end of the day, I just feel sorry for the tree.”

“It would be nice if it wasn’t there anymore, it doesn’t look good,” Birdsong said.

Meanwhile, neighbors like Zinn are doing their best while waiting for garbage collection and repairs.

“All roofers are very busy right now, which is why we are on the list,” Zinn said. “Just try to make your stack as neat and tidy as possible, that’s all I could do.”