Last Day For Storm Debris Pickup Is Wednesday

You still have time to drag moldy Sheetrock, insulation, ruined furniture, construction debris and any other Superstorm Sandy-related items out to the curb.

But residents will have to hurry.

Wednesday, Jan. 16 is the last day AshBritt - the company Ocean County officials awarded a contract to after the storm - will be picking up any Sandy-related items.

Contractors are responsible for removing their own debris, Mayor Carmen F. Amato Jr. said.

Residents who have other storm-related debris like furniture and appliances will have to contact the Public Works Department for removal, he said.

Berkeley Township officials entered into a shared services agreement between the county and many other towns in mid-November, to move the cleanup along more quickly than the public works department could manage on its own.

Public works employees had been working nearly around the clock, seven days a week, before the agreement.

AshBritt last week estimated the amount at 1 million cubic yards in the 10 weeks since the storm.

During a normal month, the county dumps about 35,000 tons of garbage at the county landfill, Ernest Kuhlwein Jr., the county's director of solid waste management said at a recent Board of Freeholders meeting.

In November, that figure was 120,000 tons, and December saw 180,000 tons, he said. The county is paying $81 per ton for debris taken to the landfill.

Berkeley officials had originally set the debris removal cut-off date for Dec. 31, but decided to extend it another two weeks after two Nor'easters struck after the storm.

"In light of the recent storms, I'm open to suggestions," Township Council President James J. Brynes said at a recent council meeting. "We really need to have a stop date so we can get reimbursement from FEMA."