Riverhead supervisor announces cleanup plan
As highway and other town employees work to clean up Riverhead in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, the town is offering extended hours at the municipal landfill into September for residents to drop off loose yard waste at their convenience.
The yard waste facility at the Youngs Avenue landfill in Calverton will now be open until Sept. 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and residents and landscapers will be able to dump there without a permit, town officials announced Monday. Normal hours will resume Sept. 6.
All waste should be loose, and not in plastic bags.
“While we have damage, we have avoided disaster, and for that we a grateful; now begins the process of cleaning up,” Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said in a statement issued Monday. “We are making it as easy as we can for people to get their property back to normal.”
The biggest problems facing Riverhead include power outages, some flooding and debris from downed trees, he said.
Aside from the extended landfill hours, Maggio Sanitation, the town’s contracted trash pickup company, will be picking up leaves and bundled branches on the second weekly garbage collection day. The bundles should not exceed four feet in length and be no more than 50 pounds each, and the leaves should be in storage containers or paper bags, officials said.
Town beaches, which have been closed since noon Friday, will remain closed until Wednesday.
“With a bit of patience and the hard work of many, we will get Riverhead running again soon,” Mr. Walter said, while noting he has been keeping in contact with the Long Island Power Authority to keep abreast of any progress being made to restore power to residents who lost electricity in the storm.
“I want to thank all of the first responders, town employees, volunteers and Red Cross volunteers that helped Riverhead brave Hurricane Irene,” Mr. Walter said. “It is always inspiring to see how our community comes together when we need it the most, to help each other. This is what makes Riverhead so special.”
Storm-related cancellations of recreational activities are being announced on the town’s websites at www.riverheadli.com.
