Contractors with Channel Construction arrange scrap for transport at Wrangell's barge ramp on Tuesday. The Juneau-based company agreed to remove the largely ferrous metal waste the city has accumulated, waiving fees in exchange for the city foregoing the usual compensation. Currently no estimate is calculable for the tonnage of metal to be removed.
Mountains of metal are in the middle of being moved this week from the island's landfill and storage spaces.
The city is working with Channel Construction to remove as much of the miscellaneous waste as it has on hand. Since Tuesday the company's barge has been busy at the loading yard piling on assorted scrap, discarded autos and bulky items.
It has been at least five years since the city was last able to offload a consignment of scrap, after depressed metals prices made transport an expensive proposition.
Communities have been stockpiling since, and Wrangell's transfer facility is just about out of room with its assortment of collected vehicles, appliances and industrial scraps. One such example the city is keen to dispense with is its old open-topped dumpsters.
"We've had quite a bit of those still sticking around," Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad explained.
Based in Juneau, Channel Construction had been up for a separate project at the 6-Mile mill site earlier this spring, and Al-Haddad said the company had been approached with an offer to take on the city's surplus of scrap.
"We have said 'you can have it,'" Al-Haddad recounted. "We're all excited about it."
The city will forego the usual recycling rebate, while the contractor will take any metal it can free of charge.
The only condition the borough gave was that the exchange be concluded before July 1, a goal that is expected to be met. Channel Construction anticipates wrapping up its work Saturday, or Sunday at the latest.
During the transfer, materials at the waste transfer facility are being loaded into trucks and conveyed to the barge yard for transport. They will eventually be conveyed southward for reprocessing. During the week of work, the city's two sanitation workers will stay busy. One will
continue regularly scheduled roadside pickup, while the other will mind the landfill.
Hours at the municipal dump will be affected this week, trimming down through Saturday from to 2 to 4 p.m. Those with questions can call Public Works at 874-3904.
As large trucks will be moving to and fro between the two sites, Al-Haddad said safety will remain a concern. Residents are advised that large, heavily laden work vehicles will be making runs on Evergreen and other roads in town. Public Works staff may be diverted from other duties to help direct traffic during the week, if necessary. The project will also have to work around a pair of cruise ships docked this week, scheduled for Tuesday and today.
Once the transfer facility has been stripped of its metallic waste, Al-Haddad said her department will have an opportunity to reorganize how its collections are maintained and stored. A system had previously been in place, but became less of a priority to maintain as space became more scarce.
"You have to put some thought into how you're going to store it," she explained.
Contractors and businesses around town have also been encouraged to use this
opportunity to offload some of their own stockpiles of scrap. Individual residents have even contributed to the pile, bringing in four stripped and prepped vehicles late last week.
The problems of transporting bulky waste have led to similarly opportunistic drives to get rid of items. Earlier this spring, Wrangell Cooperative Association arranged for the collection and disposal of about 5,000 pounds of electronic waste, and shipped out around five tons of discarded gillnets this month. In both cases, items will be reprocessed in Washington, where materials will find new life in other products.
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