SPRING CLEANUP A SUCCESS; RESPONSE THIS YEAR IS `OVERWHELMING'

One of the busiest spots in Cape Girardeau this week is the city's solid-waste transfer station near Lone Star Cement on South Sprigg.

City-owned solid-waste trucks, dump trucks and other vehicles have been lined up three to four at a time, waiting to unload tons of solid waste collected during the weeklong Spring Cleanup program.

Pickups began Monday and continued Tuesday and Thursday. Barring bad weather, today's final pickups will be in the western part of the city.

Apparently many people believe Spring Cleanup is a good deal financially. In each block, solid waste, boxes, bags filled with leaves and grass, and large appliances were piled at curbside Thursday waiting for pickup. Normally, residents would be charged extra for the pickup service.

"I'm shocked at the overwhelming response of the people," said Steve Triplett, solid-waste coordinator for the city. Triplett made the comment as he and Doug Kaminskey, city environmental services coordinator, were helping out at the transfer station Thursday morning.

This week Triplett and Kaminskey have been acting more like commanding generals, as they direct their small army of men and vehicles by two-way radio around the city to pick up solid waste on time and without expensive overtime. While all of the extra Spring Cleanup refuse is being collected, solid-waste crews are also making their regular, weekly refuse route pickups.

Figures for the first two days of pickup were impressive. On Monday, total solid-waste processed at the transfer station was 157.8 tons. Triplett said that compares with a normal day of about 100 tons. "On a busy day it may go as high as 150 tons," he said, "but 157 tons is certainly a high figure."

On Tuesday, 154.2 tons of refuse moved through the station. "We expect Thursday will be our heaviest day of the week, with about 200 tons of refuse processed," he said. "Unless we run behind schedule on Thursday's pickups, Friday's tonnage should be somewhat lower."

In case not all solid-waste items are picked up today, Triplett said residents should leave them at curbside and they will be picked up Monday.

Triplett said the cost of transporting and disposing of the refuse at a Stoddard County landfill will be around $10,000. "That only includes the disposal charges at the landfill," he said. "Our labor costs won't be figured in until next week."

Triplett said funds for the Spring Cleanup program come from the monthly $8.90 solid-waste fee citizens pay along with their sewer bill.

During Spring Cleanup Week, the city picked up all items of solid waste including wood and metal scrap, boxes, grass clippings, tree limbs, and appliances such as stoves, freezers, refrigerators, and water heaters.

Normally, a small fee would be charged to pick up the items. The only items that cannot be collected this week are old tires, batteries and used motor oil.

To make sure Spring Cleanup is completed on time, Triplett said the solid-waste, public-works, street, and stormwater departments have mobilized nearly every available man and vehicle in their fleets.

Although it has been an annual event in the city each spring, Triplett said this year's Spring Cleanup campaign is a first-of-a-kind.

"Last year we placed Dumpsters in parts of town, and the people brought whatever they had and pitched it in the Dumpsters," he said. "But that was before the state landfill law went into effect last year. Now, almost all of the solid waste we pickup has to go to the transfer station for compaction and transport to a landfill near Dexter."

Because of the new regulations, all solid waste that can be put in the landfill is brought to the transfer station for compaction. All grass clippings, leaves, tree limbs and other material are taken to the city's compost-and-mulch pile on South West End Boulevard. These items are no longer permitted in landfills.

Triplett said the grass, leaves and brush will be ground up in a chipper and turned into compost or mulch, and will be available free of charge to anyone who wants it.

During the first two days of Spring Cleanup Week, Triplett said over 11 tons of yard waste, including grass, leaves and brush, were picked up.

The appliances were picked up at curbside by a city backhoe equipped with a clamshell shovel, and were put into dump trucks. They were taken to the transfer station, where the motors and coils were removed. The appliances, along with the motors and coils, were taken to a scrap-metal dealer in Poplar Bluff.

"We're not going to get rich selling this scrap," Triplett said. "By the time it's all over, we will have made about $700 on the 12 tons of white appliances I expect we'll collect during Spring Cleanup Week."

But Triplett said the 12 tons of appliances and 11 tons of yard waste collected so far this week as solid waste will not wind up along some isolated road in the county or in an illegal dump.

Triplett said more people are participating in Spring Cleanup this year than last year, when the city set out the large trash bins in different areas of town. That meant people had to bring their solid waste to the trash bins. This year, all they had to do was set it out at curbside.