The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractor CERES Environmental Services, Inc., began the process for turnover of the Wimberly Pit temporary debris staging and reduction site in Decatur County, Georgia, Feb. 3. The parties met at the site to complete the initial paperwork.
This is the first of 25 TDSR sites to be returned to pre-use purposes.
"The Georgia Environmental Protection Division inspector still has to visit the site and complete their final review," said Bryon Lake, Corps mission manager.
To ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the site is inspected to certify all of the various classifications of debris, storm management structures, and introduced road material have been removed.
Bert Skillen, Corps environmental compliance specialist, performed a pre-turnover inspection of the property Feb. 2 and has visited the site several times for NEPA compliance.
"The inspection also certifies the site activities have not impacted any nearby waterways," said Skillen. "And, that there are no serious erosion or ground disturbance issues."
Tonja Dreke, Corps contract specialist, was tasked with finding suitable final disposition sites for the more than 19,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris that passed through Wimberly.
"We were very fortunate here," said Dreke. "The owner wanted to rejuvenate the property and that allowed us to leave a mulch layer on the former TDSR."
Beneficial uses for mulch generated from Hurricane Michael debris include bio fuel, compost, soil rejuvenation and landfill cover.
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