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Mobile wood grinding fleet, qualification as a preapproved cleanup contractor and reliable outlets for processed debris are keys to success.
THE weeklong winter storm that hit the south and East Coast last February was a record-setting event. The state of South Carolina lost 11 percent of its timber, with North Carolina and some East Coast states sustaining similar levels of tree damage. As the lead contractor in the post-storm cleanup effort, South Carolina-based Southern Disaster Recovery also achieved some impressive stats, processing about 2.5 million cubic yards of green and wood waste, and doing more than $40 million in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)-approved ice storm cleanup.
Further to the north, Supreme Industries in Connecticut and Savage Forest Enterprise in Maine are also quite busy doing storm cleanup. This article takes a closer look at each company's storm debris recovery and processing practices.
SOUTHERN DISASTER RECOVERY
In 2011, entrepreneurs A1 McClaren, Kevin Boucher and Mark Ells founded Southern Disaster Recovery (SDR), located in Greer, South Carolina, to specialize in post-storm, tree cleanup work. McClaren had been working for another debris removal company cleaning up after an October ice storm on the East Coast when he met Connecticut-based Supreme Industries owner Kevin Boucher. "I was considering starting my own company, and I knew Kevin had been getting into the debris business," explains McClaren.
He and Boucher partnered with fellow clean-up contractor Mark Ells, owner of Greenville, South Carolinabased Greenworks Recycling, to form SDR. The company's size - more than 200 employees and an extensive network of subcontractors - enables it to simultaneously handle multiple storm cleanup projects, according to McClaren.
To set up debris management sites in advance of storm events, SDR works with county or municipal officials to find suitable locations, adds McClaren. If the site will be used to clean up after a hurricane or tornado, the company may install liners to contain any hazardous household waste that might be included in the cleanup.
Local governments' readiness to deal with storm events varies greatly, he says. When Congress passed the Hurricane Sandy Relief Act, it stipulated 'extra' reimbursement to have disaster recovery plans in place. "Although FEMA has directed county governments to 'precontract' with qualified cleanup contractors and have debris management plans in...