TWU opens a temporary green waste disposal site

Main location gets nearly $406,000 in improvements

A contract worker repairs the grinding chamber on the main grinder Friday at the Texarkana Water Utilities compost site. TWU recently completed an improvement project at the site. A new paved, circle drive allows for easier drop off of green waste as well as new concrete pads to allow for more material to be housed on site.
A contract worker repairs the grinding chamber on the main grinder Friday at the Texarkana Water Utilities compost site. TWU recently completed an improvement project at the site. A new paved, circle drive allows for easier drop off of green waste as well as new concrete pads to allow for more material to be housed on site.

Texarkana Water Utilities is accepting green waste at a temporary disposal site while improvements are being made to the South Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant's composting facility.

People may dispose of plant material at a site just north of Loop 151 on the west side of South State Line Avenue. A roadside sign points the way to the temporary drop-off spot.

The construction at the main site, 4000 S. State Line Ave., includes replacing gravel roads with asphalt pavement and pouring a large concrete slab. The goals are to make unloading green waste easy and to keep it clean.

"The point (of the slab) is to give everybody a decent place to unload. Especially in the winter, it just was getting so darn muddy. And it also keeps a whole ton of dirt from getting mixed up with the brush before we haul it off to store it or stack it. It's a good all-weather surface to unload on," TWU Executive Director J.D. Phillips said.

Texarkana contractor J.R. Pope Inc. won the construction job last summer with a bid of almost $406,000. Wet weather throughout the winter delayed the project, but it is nearly finished now, Phillips said.

The facility's tub grinder, an industrial-scale machine that pulverizes brush and branches for compost, is under repair. Once it is again running, TWU will move it to the temporary site and grind the green waste there.

According to TWU's website, each year the composting operation grinds nearly 200,000 cubic yards of green waste brought in by residents. TWU combines this material with biosolids derived from the wastewater treatment process to produce class A compost,which is then sold to the public.

The site accepts leaves, grass clippings, brush and tree limbs up to 8 inches in diameter and 8 feet long. Clean, untreated lumber, pallets and similar items also are accepted.

Prohibited items include tree stumps, painted lumber, old furniture, plywood, presswood, cross ties, wood from the demolition of structures, household garbage, plastics, paper and concrete.

Hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The site is closed on designated city holidays. For more information, call 903-798-3860.

 

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