The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Wendesday approved spending of up to $2.5 million to remove hundreds of tons of debris from roadways in Guerneville and other Russian River communities.
Calling it both a public health and an environmental emergency, the supervisors said that beginning Monday, county road crews and local trash haulers will begin picking up the piles of ruined furniture, appliances and other wreckage from the historic floods.
Previously, it had been the residents' daunting responsibility to move debris to processing centers
Meanwhile, many Guerneville residents wearing boots fresh from the flood zone said that the moldering mounds, which may contain toxic materials, are overwhelming.
“We absolutely need this curbside pickup. It is just severely impacting us. Everywhere I go, people are saying, ‘What about the rats?’” one resident said.
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Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins led the effort to fund the cleanup.
“The debris is everywhere and it’s falling apart,” she said. “It’s falling into our ditches, which then feed into our river, ultimately.”