Houston Solid Waste Management clarifies Kingwood neighborhood debris pickup schedule after neighbors claim months-long absence

KINGWOOD, Texas (KTRK) — The City of Houston’s Solid Waste Department has clarified its trash collection schedule for two Kingwood neighborhoods, where residents say crews haven’t picked up their debris and trash in two months.

On Tuesday, the department told Eyewitness News that bulk trash was collected in the Sherwood Trails area of ​​Kingwood between April 17 and 19.

SWMD added that crews collected tree waste May 20-22 and will return to collect bulk waste June 21-22.

The municipal department noted that between the April and May collections, Kingwood was flooded around May 1 and the devastating derecho event occurred on May 16.

“We are nearing the end of the first pass of a three-pass storm debris operation that is expected to last 90 days from start (May 16), barring delays related to major weather events,” Houston Solid said Waste Management. “Teams have collected more than 1.3 million cubic meters of storm debris and hope to collect another (half a million) cubic meters by the end of the operation. Once the first pass is complete, the teams will start a second, then a third.

The ministry explained that all storm debris is transported to a temporary debris storage and reduction site, which involves wood chippers and grinders in a reduction process.

“The defined completion of this operation (estimated 90 days) includes collection of three crossings, final reduction of all collected debris, and restoration of all temporary staging sites to their original condition,” the city said .

The response came a day after ABC13 spoke with neighbors in Sherwood Trails and Elm Grove about trash not being collected ahead of predicted torrential rains.

Neighbors said their yards contained the usual trash as well as trash from April floods and May weather.

Several residents say they called 311, but the trash remained.

“They claim they were late before the storm, and I don’t think they were, so it’s going to get worse,” Athens Phillips said.

Mayor John Whitmire said 225 contracted crews, in addition to the city’s usual 150, were on the streets of Houston Monday.

SEE ALSO: Kingwood residents face months of battling storm debris