Interim director Anthony Crispino said the elements posed major challenges in reaching trash bins in alleys, which he says make up 60% of the agency’s refuse pickup routes.
More than a month after a late January snowfall and weeks of brutal cold combined to create “snowcrete,” D.C.’s Department of Public Works is addressing questions about trash pickup after the storm.
“This was a gargantuan challenge for you to face,” said Ward 3 Council member Matthew Frumin, during Wednesday’s oversight hearing for the public works department. “There was a lot of grace early on, then it ran out as trash and recycling lagged, but even more so, was spotty.”
Anthony Crispino, interim director of D.C.’s public works department, agreed the elements posed major challenges in reaching trash bins in alleys, which he says makes up 60% of the agency’s refuse pickup routes.
“A lot of those alleys don’t get sun,” Crispino said. “If a car goes through and the snow gets compacted, it turns to ice, and it stays to ice.”
Crispino said clearing snow and ice in alleys remains the responsibility of residents, but bobcats were brought in to help clear pathways in alleys, so trucks could reach trash.
Frumin paraphrased what he heard from residents who said pickup was only partially completed in some alleys: “‘They went up half the way in the alley, and they didn’t come all the way to my place.’ They were beside themselves with frustration and fury.”
“The reason why you were seeing some of the alleys being half done is the crew went in with the truck, and the truck slid,” Crispino said. “We had one where the truck slid, and the driver got out to see how he got stuck, he immediately slipped and broke his ankle.”
“I can’t force him back in the alley,” Crispino said. “The union said it was too dangerous,” although overtime was offered for employees who volunteered to try to retrieve trash in alleys.
‘We were afraid it would rip the can in half’
Even when they could reach the trash bins, conditions were unmanageable, Crispino said.
“Some of the cans were literally bonded to the surface,” frozen in place, said Crispino. “And it took two or three people to even get it loose, and if it didn’t, we were afraid that it would rip the can in half.”
Other plastic trash cans in alleys were left with their lids open and filled with water.
“That water, over the subzero temperatures froze, so they went from being 100, 150 pounds to 500 pounds, and it exceeded the lift capability of the truck,” Crispino said.
Some residents, whose front doors open into alleys, complained that they remained snowed and iced-in.
“I think we do need to take a look at the zone maps, because as the city has evolved in terms of construction and development, there are now houses that face into alleys, so that, in essence, has become the main thoroughfare for them,” Crispino said. “The maps need to be updated to ensure that we don’t have any more relapses of essential services.”
While the agency will perform an in-depth after-action report, Crispino said the public works department has room for improvement.
“I think we could do a better job on communicating with the residents, in part to just lay out what they can expect,” in future snow operations, he said.
In some cases, where bins were entombed in ice, trash wasn’t removed until recently.
“We had to wait for the thaw, to go back and collect it,” Crispino said. I know that doesn’t get you to where residents want us to be, but those are some of the things that the crews are facing.”
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