'That's never happened': Pinellas County closes main dump to storm debris as trash piles up
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — As families stack up mounds of memories on the curb, including furniture and photos, commercial junk haulers tell the ABC Action News I-Team that the county is turning away storm debris at its main dump site.
Right now, there is one location for hauling companies to drop off what Helene destroyed.
Commercial haulers lined up at Angelo's Recycling in Largo on Tuesday after learning that, as of 6 a.m., they could no longer take storm debris to the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal in St. Petersburg.
Contacting Pinellas County officials, the I-Team found out there is now just one location for commercial haulers to bring storm debris within the county — Angelo's Recycling.
After our story aired Tuesday, Pinellas County provided us with this information:
"The Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex is not a designated storm debris site, nor is it equipped to accept storm debris. The volume of debris we received from this storm would overwhelm our site and interrupt regular waste processing. Storm debris must also be documented before disposal for reimbursement by FEMA, which would not be possible at Solid Waste. Therefore, we are implementing a zoned storm debris collection plan for the unincorporated County beginning today, and we’re supporting our cities as they develop their own plans. Our contractor will document and remove the debris."
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/thats-never-happened-pinellas-county-closes-main-dump-to-storm-debris-as-trash-piles-up