Kalamazoo reports cleanup of 18,000 cubic yards of storm debris; chips to be reused

James Baker, City of Kalamazoo Public Services Director, said Aug. 15 that city crews removed more than 18,000 cubic yards of tree and branch debris from neighborhoods after the May 15 storm. "We cleaned up over 18,000 cubic yards of material," Baker said, adding that the effort followed more than 400 calls for service the first night.

Baker said the volume is equivalent to about 1,800 dump trucks and, if piled on a football field, would reach about 8.4 feet high. The city collected the material at a debris management site the department calls the Timber Bowl at the Skipper site, then chipped the wood for beneficial reuse. "This is 1 of our debris management sites. We're standing now in what we call the Timber Bowl," Baker said.

The city changed its post-storm handling to chipping rather than burning, citing air-quality concerns. "This material used to be burnt. However, as you see from the California wildfires, burning this much wood can create some issues with air quality," Baker said. He said the resulting wood chips "can be used in projects and beneficial uses in our neighborhoods."

Baker also noted that the department's equipment runs on biodiesel and that the chipper operation was powered by that fuel. "We also switched to biodiesel a few years ago, so our entire department runs on biodiesel. This operation including the chipper operation was all powered by biodiesel," he said.

Baker thanked Kalamazoo residents for placing debris at the curb, which he said sped the cleanup. "We wanna thank the citizens of Kalamazoo for their help in getting everything out to the curb for us. That really helped speed up our cleanup efforts," he said. He added that the chips provide a "beneficial product to use in our neighborhoods for years to come."