A MOUNTAIN OF MULCH: CITY STORM CLEANUP SLOW GOING

Storm-damaged tree limbs and brush are being ground into a mountain of mulch as Cape Girardeau continues to clean up from the windstorm of May 17.

The city usually stockpiles limbs and yard debris until an annual mulching day in late July or early August. But because so much debris was left by the storm, a tub grinder was leased from a private company, St. Louis Composting.

Wood chips have been flying since Wednesday as the grinder makes mulch of the storm debris.

A mountain of mulch measuring at least 50 yards long and 30 feet high is growing by the hour. The mountain is shaped like a ski slope. A high-end loader scoops and spreads the mulch, driving to the top of the mountain. The tub grinder grinds 100 yards of waste an hour.

The debris includes tree stumps and trunks measuring 2 feet or more across. Operators said they can grind up trees the size of a truck.

"If it will go into the tub, it will grind it up," said Roy Sansoucie, who operates the grinder. The tub is 12 1/2 feet wide.

The mulch is available free to city residents, who can pick up mulch from a loading site in the southeast corner of Arena Park.

City residents may drop off downed trees and yard debris at the holding area on Third Street just off LaCruz and South Sprigg. Signs point the way. The holding area is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday for free dropoffs.

City truck after truck unloaded storm debris at the holding area Monday morning. The city has at least 15 trucks hauling trees and debris to the holding area, said Tim Gramling, assistant public works director.

"After working all last week, it's really hard to tell how much progress we've made," he said.

In some parts of town it seems no progress has been made at all, he said. He estimates that crews working at the current rate will be clearing brush for the next two weeks and maybe as long as a month.

Gramling said: "We're using everything we've got: back hoes, front-end loaders. If we've got a driver we're using it."

"We are exploring hiring part of this out to contractors," Gramling said.

The crews will continue to work overtime this week in hopes of making a dent in the debris.

"I can't think of very many places in town that didn't have some damage," Gramling said. "You can't go down a street with very many houses without seeing some debris."

In addition, each day brings additional brush. Some people waited until the weekend to drag limbs and trees from their yards to the street for pickup. Lots of chain saws were in use over the past week.

"There were some streets cleared out last week," Gramling said. "The next day there was more out at the curb than what we hauled off the first day.

"We are asking for patience," Gramling said. "We are working as fast as we can, and we do have in mind that lots of people have lots of debris. We're doing everything we can to get to it as fast as we can."