Log Jam At Dropoff Long Lines Form At Dump Sites As Deadline Nears For Free Disposal Of Branches From Ice Storm

Sun., March 30, 1997

By Ward Sanderson wards@spokesman.com

You give them a twig, they’ll take a log.

Even though dumping debris from November’s ice storm comes as a freebie today and Monday, some still try to pull one over on the folks in the orange vests.

“They try dumping garbage,” said Teresa Andersen as she checked in trucks at the Geiger dump site Saturday. “One guy tried to bring in sod, because he said a tree fell on his yard. Some brought in a bench, because a tree fell on it and wrecked it. They try all kinds of stuff.”

Coming today? No empty Easter baskets, please. Or plastic grass. But the dumps will be open from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., accepting (natural) ice storm debris. Both today and Monday, there’s still no fee.

The rush to dump for free was on Saturday. It seemed as if everybody with a truck, trailer or both showed up. A line of blue tarps on wheels snaked around the dusty perimeter of the Geiger dump right until closing.

“People are in panic mode because Monday’s the last day,” Andersen said.

Waste technician Geoffrey Glenn blamed it on the comet.

“Everyone made a universal consciousness decision to go to the waste-to-energy facility,” he joked.

That would make Becky Swan a regular swami.

“This is our fourth load today,” said Swan, tossing brambles from the bed of her truck. “This morning the wait was half an hour. It was backed down clear to the highway.”

Which was fine for her son, Jeremy Fitch. The 14-year-old - dressed in dusty jeans, wielding a pitchfork - got a BMX bike out of the deal.

A few trucks away, Tim Hamlin chucked branches into the ever-growing needly waste pile. Cleaning up after the ice storm wasn’t new to him; the contractor just had trouble finding time to get rid of his own mess.

“I’ve been real busy all winter long,” Hamlin said. But he said he had no real reason to gripe. Others had to spend big money on repairs - he was fixing smashed decks and roofs all season.

“A branch came down and went right through a roof, right into the floor,” he said.

Andersen’s day was spent waving drivers through, a truck at a time. She had to stop the line and stand there until her radio squawked, “Go ahead.”

Most people were patient.

A guy started hollering at one of the workers because she had told him to stop. “Look, I’m as tired as you are,” the exasperated woman told him.

The key, Glenn said, is to be a waste-to-energy charmer. Smile big. Tell jokes.

“A lot of it’s personality.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

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