Floods of 2014 Victim Cries 'Foul' Over Molding Debris

Dearborn officials expect to finish flood debris pickup in a citywide sweep. (Patch file photo)

___________

More than 100 trash trucks will fan out across Dearborn Saturday for what’s being described as a “comprehensive sweep” as cleanup from the record Floods of 2014 continues.

But the help isn’t coming soon enough, resident Adel Mozip said in an email to city officials and others Thursday. Mozip, who lives south of Michigan Avenue and Greenfield, gave city officials a 4 p.m. Thursday to clean up the neighborhood, or he will head to 19th District Court in search of a solution.

Mozip claims he was promised by a city official that his neighborhood would be cleaned up last Saturday or Monday at the latest. Mozig maintains his neighborhood was the hardest hit and the last to be cleaned up,

“Today is Thursday and not a single piece is picked up,” he wrote, adding that mold is spreading to the grass from items left on the curb for pickup. The longer the debris remain on the street corner, the greater the public health hazard, he wrote.

“The city of Dearborn was very slow in tackling this issue,” he wrote. “... our children, elderly and even strong adults are inhaling dangerous deadly chemicals coming out of sewerage-infected garbage.”

Mozip questioned why officials the city of Warren, which experienced some of the worst flooding in the metro, “and even the bankrupt city of Detroit” were able to clear debris ahead of Dearborn.

Such frustrations are common. About 40 percent of Dearborn residents – about 10,000 homes – reported some degree of flooding in Aug. 11 storms that dumped nearly 5 inches and some isolated higher amounts of rain in about four hours. Streets were flooded and sewers backed up in some of the worst flooding the Detroit metro has seen in 90 years.

The city says it has dedicated $1 million to the massive cleanup effort.

Crews from the city’s public works department and Republic Services trash collection company have removed 2,400 tons of bulk items in 17 days – equivalent to the amount of trash picked up in a year.

Collection was interrupted earlier this week when some Department of Public Works crews were assigned to remove trees that fell during an Aug. 26 thunderstorms, officials said.

Related:

• Woman Hears Reports of Her Death on TV
• Woman Reported Dead in Floods of 2014 to Meet Rescuer on ‘The Doctors’
• Volunteer, 88, Refuses to Sit, Rips Out Flooded Drywall Instead
• Volunteers Help Cash-Strapped Flood Victims Clean Molding, Stinking Belongings
• Foul-Smelling Flood Debris Piling Up on Curbs, Who to Call: Floods of 2014

In a news release, city officials said they hope to complete the pickup with Saturday’s sweep. Residents who want flood-damaged belongings picked up at no charge should have them at the curb by 7 a.m.

After that, they’re asked to call the Sanitation Division at (313) 943-2433 to schedule a special pickup for their damaged materials at a later time.

City officials reminded residents to make sure vehicles have been removed from streets for Saturday’s cleanup, which is normal procedure on trash pickup dates. Vehicles obstructing trash trucks will be towed.

Some other reminders:

• Remove or pound nails from wood and paneling so that collection crews can safely pick up flood-damaged materials. Items that pose a threat to the safety of crews will not be collected.
• No household hazardous materials will be collected at the curb. This includes paint cans with liquid still in them, some household cleaners and pesticides.