The city of Charlottetown is still in the midst of a major cleanup operation after post-rainforest storm Fiona wiped out hundreds of trees, but it already has plans to keep at least some of them out of landfills. I’m standing
City public works manager Scott Adams said, “It’s going slowly. There’s a lot of debris, a lot of fallen trees that we’ve been clearing, a lot of street trees, and residents are clearing private property. ” he said.
“We are still trucking more and more wood debris out of town every day.”
The brushes are taken to a location along Park Street near the Eastlink Center where they are sharpened. The city is in talks with organizations interested in converting the chips into heating fuel.
However, many of the fallen trees are over 100 years old and have huge trunks.
“We pick out especially large chunks from all the old trees and set them aside for reuse,” says Adams.
How they might be used is still under consideration, he said, and there will be public consultations on the matter.
Prioritize road cleaning
According to Adams, facility availability is the biggest challenge facing the city.
A large truck is required to carry out the debris, and there is demand not only for cleanup but also for construction.
The priority, he said, was for people to clear the bushes that had piled up on the roadside.
“We’re getting into winter very early, and when that weather hits, we can’t have all these big piles of trees on the side of the road,” he said.
Work on the park is also underway. Public walkways have been largely cleared and most dangerous trees have been removed, but other areas of the park still need weeks of work.
