Missouri National Guard members have arrived in St. Louis to work at debris-dumping sites on the city’s north side.
Gov. Mike Kehoe deployed troops as part of an ongoing effort to clean up destruction from the May 16 tornado.
“We recognize there is just an enormous amount of debris within the live space and within communities,” Mayor Cara Spencer said. “This is an option if you are able to move your debris here, to get it off-site rather quickly.”
Approximately 40 members of the Guard are in the city to work at four schools that are being used as waste drop-off locations. They’ll help coordinate the drop-off of yard waste, building materials and other debris and transport it to landfills, Spencer said during a news conference Thursday.
The National Guard members will be in St. Louis for two weeks. It’s possible the sites could stay open longer if residents demonstrate an ongoing need.
Farragut Elementary School in the Greater Ville is the first of the four sites to open. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had arrived to drop off debris, but around a dozen uniformed troops were ready in the parking lot.
Other sites at Marshall School and Turner School in the Ville and DeAndreis/Bunch school in the O’Fallon neighborhood will be open soon. The sites are scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Most debris is accepted, but the sites can’t take paint or Freon (refrigerant). A sign at the Farragut site said it did not take washers, refrigerators or other appliances. Debris will be sorted on-site.
The city coordinated with the school board to open the sites. The board approved the plan earlier this week.
“A family or community that comes together in times like this can only get stronger and better,” said St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Milicent Borishade. “And so when the mayor called, we were more than excited to come together to make sure that our community has everything that it needs.”
The city will continue to pick up debris that has been piled on curbsides, Spencer said. Volunteer contractors “are doubling city capacity” to tote the debris away.
The National Guard’s scope is “going to be limited to really just keeping these drop sites working well organized,” Spencer said. “They're not going to be directly out in the community.”
She added that many residents think the National Guard is used for public safety enforcement. However, Spencer said she was confident city law enforcement and the Fire Department did not need help on that front.
“A lot of folks are really confused and asking why the National Guardsmen aren’t repairing homes and doing that stuff like that,” she said. “Unfortunately, that is not their area of expertise. They're not trained to do that sort of construction work. So we have to be mindful of what their capacity is and what their capabilities are and what they're trained to do.”
