CalRecycle hits milestone in cleaning wildfire debris

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) plans to join the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to announce the completion of wildfire debris removal in Siskiyou County, California. 

According to a CalRecycle news release, final inspections on cleared lots are underway and should be complete by mid-October. Since Aug. 27, 2018, crews removed more than 13,670 tons of wildfire debris from 49 private properties, including:

• 9,835 tons of ash/debris

• 2,371 tons of contaminated soil

• 1,009 tons of concrete (recycled)

• 391 tons of metal (recycled)

“The completion of wildfire debris removal in Siskiyou County is a significant milestone in California’s wildfire recovery efforts,” says Scott Smithline, CalRecycle director, in a company news release. “CalRecycle is incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made together with our state and local partners to help these communities heal and put homeowners in a position to rebuild.” 

In addition, CalRecycle-managed crews continue to make progress on three additional wildfire debris removal operations on properties impacted by the Carr Fire in Shasta County, California, as well as Lake County, California, properties affected by the Pawnee and Mendocino Complex fires, CalRecycle reports.

CalRecycle implements phase two of California’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program under the leadership of CalOES and local governments, according to a CalRecycle report. Following the removal of household hazardous waste in phase one, CalOES and local officials will coordinate with CalRecycle to execute contracts and fire-related debris removal on private properties at no out-of-pocket costs to homeowners.