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Billings, Mont., Storm Debris Sent to Landfill

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

By Lance Benzel, Billings Gazette, Mont.

Oct. 20--Two weeks after a record-breaking snowstorm swept through Billings, city Solid Waste Superintendent Ken Behling is still dealing with the storm's aftermath.

Since Oct. 7, the city/county landfill has received some 1,200 tons of branches and other material damaged in the storm, more than twice the tonnage the landfill usually receives in the course of a full month, Behling said Tuesday.

"I don't think I've ever seen this kind of volume in the 13 years I've been with the department," Behling said. "And there's an awful lot of material still out there."

The storm dumped nearly 10 inches of wet, heavy snow on Oct. 4, breaking a record set in 1957. Thousands of homes lost power -- some for as long as two days -- when downed branches and damaged tree limbs fell onto power lines.

As of Sunday, the city stopped accepting tree material at five public parks in Billings, meaning residents slow to clean up after the storm will have to make the trip to the landfill, located at 5540 Jellison Road, just south of Billings.

But piles of debris remain at Castle Rock and Poly Vista parks. A contractor has been chipping away at the debris, feeding branches into an industrial-size wood chipper and then hauling the product to the landfill.

Behling said the material will be composted for at least one year. The compost is used in landfill operations and given away for free to the public.

Storm cleanup has led to overtime for solid waste crews as well as a rise in fuel expenditures. "It's impacted our budget," Behling said.

But tallying the full cost of the storm on city crews will be difficult because so many departments were affected, including the street traffic division of the Public Works Department, and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Lands, Behling said. Public utilities crews also assisted in the cleanup effort.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Billings Gazette, Mont.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Billings Gazette, Billings, Montana

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