JOHNSTON – In the wake of historic flooding, Rhode Island’s central landfill has collected about 6,500 more tons of trash during the last week compared with a normal week in April, the R.I. Resource and Recovery Corporation said Wednesday afternoon. That’s enough waste to fill more than 500 typical dump trucks.
Anticipating more, the corporation said it will extend its hours for the second time since the flood last week and remain open on Saturdays until 2 p.m. for the remainder of April.
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Sarah Kite, the corporation’s director of recycling services, said if the levels of waste remain on pace with the previous week, the landfill could see a 4 to 5 percent increase in its annual volume for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Kite added that the corporation was also allowing municipalities not to count flood-related waste toward their caps on the amount of waste they can haul into the landfill. That’s important, because once communities exceed their caps they pay higher fees at the state’s only landfill. Communities can also request the federal government pick up the tab for the cost of disposing of the flood-ravaged waste.
Kite said the first wave of garbage has included contents generally found in basements, such as couches, carpets, televisions, computers and the like. She said the corporation is anticipating the next flood of materials will include soggy drywall and damaged studs.
“We anticipate the cleanup is going to take some time,” she said.
Kite said while the landfill in Johnston expected to deal with volumes of homeowner waste, it anticipated that most commercial waste would head out of state because most of it does already.
Kite said regardless of where it goes, business owners and homeowners disposing of flood-damaged items may be eligible for reimbursement costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. However, she said the agency has informed the corporation that homeowners delivering waste directly to the landfill will not be eligible for reimbursements. They must let their municipality pick up the waste. For the one-third of the population without municipal trash pickup, Kite said the corporation was still seeking answers from FEMA about the proper process.
And Kite cautioned people to handle “with extreme caution” flooded hazardous materials such as pool chemicals, fertilizers or strong cleaning chemicals that may have been swamped. Those materials can be brought to the hazardous collection days or to special drop bins established by many communities Kite said. Special bins also exist for electronic waste such as televisions, computers and printers. Kite urged residents to contact their local communities for specific information.
In addition, the corporation has set up an assistance page at www.rirrc.org for disposing of flood-related materials.
