Debris Pile Shrinks, Collections to Continue in Brick

Notice the big pile of debris at the old Foodtown lot?

It's a lot smaller than it used to be.

The towering behemoth of Superstorm Sandy's destruction has been pared down in recent days as crews have worked hard to remove the trash from town and haul it away to the Ocean County Landfill for proper disposal.

But despite the drop in size, new debris is still being added to the pile as collections continue.

"I think everybody in town has had at least one pickup, some two pickups," said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis, who attended a meeting in Trenton on Tuesday with other officials to discuss cleanup efforts.

"As long as they allow us to do it in the fashion we're doing it, we'll continue to do it," Acropolis said.

So far, about 200,000 cubic yards of debris has been collected town-wide.

The debris collection has been provided by a FEMA-approved debris management contractor, AshBritt Environmental. The company has managed other disaster cleanups ranging from Hurricane Katrina to work at former nuclear missile launch sites.

The contractor has removed much of the debris from the pile using massive pieces of equipment.

"They were using those big 80 yard trucks and getting it out of there as quickly as they could," said Acropolis.

In all, AshBritt is estimating the Brick cleanup will produce 300,000 to 350,000 cubic yards of debris. That's down from an initial estimate of between 400,000 and 500,000 cubic yards.

For now, periodic debris pickups will continue in town, at least through the end of the year, Acropolis said.

"As long as people are putting stuff out that is storm-related, we're absolutely going to continue to pick it up," he said.