(Courtesy City and Borough of Wrangell)
A small landslide that occurred on Friday morning ripped through an area at Wrangell’s solid waste transfer facility According to officials from the borough. The pit for burning will remain shut until further notice.
Wrangell Public Works Director Tom Wetor says that the pit in which borough employees burn combustible waste is situated in the vicinity of a steep cliff.
“Some smaller rocks started to come down, and it was obvious that something was happening at the time,” Wetor said. Then, around 9:15 a.m. an even bigger slide took place. “Luckily there was no injury. However, a good deal of rock did fall and ripped out the entire burn rack along with the concrete blocks as well as I-beams, steel racks and everything else is in our yard and it was destroyed completely. It was a blessing that it did not last long.”
Wetor reports that the staff has barricaded the area at the north-facing side of the station for solid waste and will not be taking all materials that are burnable for at least the upcoming week.
“There are some concerns about how stable the slope is as well as some additional material which appears to could be falling down as well and we have therefore barricaded the area” Wetor says. “Right the moment, things seem to be very unstable here. We need to give it some room and let it go at its own pace.”
He claims the pit will probably need reconstruction in new area.
“We’re trying to salvage the materials we can to build what we can and we’ll likely rebuild the burn pit in a more favourable direction towards that closed landfill which isn’t as steep and the rock seems to be more stable than what’s directly above where the pit is at the moment,” Wetor says. It will occur “once we’re safe enough to get there and start digging into the rocks and determine what we can salvage from the site.”
The burning pit is among the few method by which Wrangell gets rid of waste on the island. Most of the waste generated in Wrangell is bailed and transported south in sealed containers via rail and barge.
If some parts of the pit cannot be salvaged, a brand new pit for burning could be constructed at a price. Wetor claims that locally-sourced metal racks that are used to burn huge substances – like wood waste or trees that have been felled are priced at around $10,000 per piece.
Wetor suggests that in the event that Wrangell residents can keep hold of burning materials for a short time, he’d like residents to hold onto the materials for a while.
“It was a huge close miss today,” Wetor says. “We’re going to have to look at some of the slopes and, ultimately, we’re going attempt to rebuild it and bring burnables back up and running as quickly as we are able to.”
The solid waste transfer facility will accept small amounts of burned materials such as cardboard, paper, or very little yard debris as staff attempt to save the burn pit before resuming normal operations.
