More than 2,000 semiloads of tree debris have been hauled from Minneapolis streets and parks to the Ft. Snelling chipping center in the four weeks since a first-day-of-summer blowdown took out more than 3,000 trees in Minneapolis, superintendent Jayne Miller told park commissioners Wednesday.
But the cleanup won't be complete until the first week of September, MIller said.
Wednesday was the first eight-hour workday for cleanup crews since the June 21 storms, Miller said. Crews have worked nine- and 10-hour days, six days a week since the storms, with July 4 being the only day off for everyone.
Cleanup work in Hennepin and 17 other counties across central and southeast Minnesota will be eligible for federal reimbursement, due to a Presidential disaster declaration announced Thursday. At least 75 percent of eligible could be covered after an application and review process. Hennepin is the only metro county included in the declaration
Miller said the declaration might actually slow down the cleanup, since it may necessary to photograph and document the location of the stump of every destroyed tree.
