MONROE COUNTY COMPLETES COLLECTION OF HURRICANE LAND DEBRIS; REMOVAL OF MARINE DEBRIS WILL BEGIN SOON

MONROE COUNTY, FL – Over the weekend, Monroe County’s contractor completed the final pass of hurricane land debris along County roads. This marks the end of collection on land of more than 2.5 million cubic yards of storm debris and more than 20,000 destroyed large appliances created by Cat. 4 Hurricane Irma in the Florida Keys.

This final collection included the contractor completing a punch list of the last eligible hurricane debris piles put along County and private roads on Big Pine Key by the announced deadline.

REMINDER: It is now illegal to put hurricane debris along all roads in the Keys.

Last week, Monroe County Mayor David Rice signed an agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that states DEP will lead the hurricane marine debris removal effort of the impacted canals and nearshore waters of unincorporated Monroe County.

DEP will hire the contractor and oversee the $6 million operation. Monroe County staff will provide local coordination. Work to secure temporary marine staging areas to store the debris once it is removed from the waters is underway. Removal of marine debris is expected to begin this week.

The former Big Pine Key prison site is the first site to be utilized for the temporary storage of marine debris, until it can be hauled out of the County. The most impacted canals and waterways have been prioritized.

For any remaining land hurricane debris on your property, residents and business owners can put what fits into your regular solid waste or yard waste bins for collection by your regular haulers. You also can call your regular haulers for special pickup, which may come with a fee.

Monroe County residents still can bring their own residential hurricane debris to one of the County’s three transfer stations for free disposal. But this won’t last indefinitely, so now is a good time to finish up any remaining hurricane debris removal around your property.

For contractors and landscapers, the fee for disposal at County transfer stations always has been $123.50 per ton.

COUNTY TRANSFER STATIONS:

Hours of operation: 8 am. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Cudjoe Key: Blimp Road, turn at MM 21.5 off U.S. 1, 305-745-2513

Long Key: Mile Marker 68 on Overseas Highway, 305-664-2263 or 305-664-2269

Key Largo, 11100 County Road 905, 305-367-4236

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