City Turns Storm Debris Into Mulch

SAN ANGELO, TX — The City of San Angelo hired a contractor to grind up the tree limbs and branches citizens deposited at the three emergency trash drop-off locations. This morning, workers were hard at work at San Angelo Stadium’s parking lot making mulch out of fallen trees and branches.

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The June 24 storm saw wind gusts up to 78 mph in a series of microbursts, a weather phenomenon where powerful downbursts of air transmit from clouds above to the ground below. The wind toppled large, grown trees and ripped off roofs of homes and businesses.

The next day, cleanup efforts began, to include taxing City crews to pick-up debris in the parks, particularly the area in and around Spring Creek Park where the annual Showdown in San Angelo boat races were being held.

During the cleanup, the City announced three drop-off locations for storm debris and citizens used them for weeks. Now, the task of removing the debris from the drop-off locations is underway.

The mulch created will save space in the landfill, City Operations Director Shane Kelton said. He plans add the mulch to the City stockpile. Kelton said the City is also offering the San Angelo ISD access to as much of the mulch as the district wants.

Also, any citizen in the city can bring a pickup to any of the locations once the chipper operations have ended and load up as much mulch as they desire, Kelton said. He asked that you wait until after all of the equipment is moved off site before arriving.

The original emergency request for bids for hiring a compost company to grind the wood stated the size of the job was for 90,000 cubic yards of trees, Kelton said. Obviously, there will be some number less than that in mulch volume. The crews are working at San Angelo Stadium today. Kelton estimates the crews will be at the San Angelo Coliseum by sometime tomorrow, and the lake location follows.

The cost of the cleanup isn’t calculated yet. Kelton said the City sets aside a small budget in the general fund for “risk” to cover incidents like this.