Debris removal to start rolling

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May 31, 2011

By Debby Woodin news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Tue May 31, 2011, 10:17 PM CDT

JOPLIN, Mo. — Debris removal, which city and state officials called a substantial step toward Joplin’s recovery from the deadly May 22 tornado, will begin today.

Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that the Missouri National Guard has been tabbed to lead the cleanup effort from the EF-5 tornado that destroyed about 25 to 30 percent of the city.

The work will start in a section of the city identified on a National Guard map as D6, which is bounded by Main Street and Jackson Avenue from 26th Street north to a diagonal line of properties that are located from 15th Street to 17th Street.

The governor said the work will begin on public property and will be done on private property as agreements can be signed with the owners to allow it.

He said that section of the city was chosen because the utility companies have all the utility connections secured so that they will not pose a risk when heavy equipment moves in.

An informational campaign will be launched to inform property owners of the steps.

The work will largely be done by Task Force Phoenix, a unit of the Joplin-based 203rd Engineer Battalion, under the command of Col. William Ward.

Task Force Phoenix has experience in rebuilding, and Ward has served two tours in Iraq with that type of duty, the governor said.

The governor said the guard unit will be able to deal with the volume of debris — millions of cubic yards — in a professional manner. It will start with equipment it has on hand, and residents will see more and more brought in for the work as the utility companies can secure the various damaged sectors of the city.

Asked where the debris will be taken, Ward said the guard will burn vegetation such as trees and limbs, and will take building material debris to landfills at Lamar or in Kansas.

There are tons of debris to remove, and it will take some time, but an exact timeline has not been established, the governor said.

“I have been clear from the start that we will rebuild Joplin,” Nixon said, and that Joplin will have the help of the state and federal governments until the job is done. The guard will be able to move the debris so that rebuilding can begin as soon as possible.

President Barack Obama has agreed that the federal government will pay 90 percent of the cost of the cleanup, leaving 10 percent to be matched by the cash-strapped state and the city, Nixon and city officials announced Tuesday. The usual split is 75 percent from the federal side, but the city of Tuscaloosa, Ala., received the higher match after a tornado in April and so will Joplin, he said.

The governor did not specify the expected cost. “It’s going to be expensive,” he said.

Asked if the Joplin catastrophe will be the costliest natural disaster in Missouri history, the governor said: “It is the most expensive in the way it matters most — in lives. We don’t look at this on the dollar side.” He added that the emotional cost of people losing homes and businesses and seeing them cleared away in the debris removal will be the most of any disaster in the state.

Partnerships

JOPLIN’S DEBRIS REMOVAL will involve a number of entities working together. They include Joplin, Duquesne, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, according to Gov. Jay Nixon.

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