Public Works Explains How To Dispose Of Grass Clippings

Two tons, that’s about how much litter the city street sweeper removes from Cleveland streets every day, Monday-Thursday. Two tons is also the estimated weight of cigarette butts removed from streets every year. 

Public Works Equipment Operator Roy Stinnett said, “I dump the sweeper four times a day.”
And don’t even get him started on cigarette butts. “I’d say two tons a year and bottles are bad. Sometimes it won’t pick them up, it just spits them out.” 

The machine removes debris from streets to help keep the city clean and to remove trash before it gets into the stormwater drainage system. The drainage system empties into ponds, lakes, streams and the Hiwassee River, which flows into the Tennessee River. The Hiwassee River is the source of Cleveland’s drinking water and the Tennessee River provides water for Chattanooga. 

The city’s stormwater ordinance is intended to protect the quality of those waterways and the natural habitats along creeks and lakes. Any discharge into the drainage system or to a waterway that is not composed entirely of stormwater is prohibited. That means pollutants of any kind: grass clippings, tree trimmings and other yard waste may not be blown or swept into streets, gutters or storm drains. Violators may be fined up to $5,000 daily plus cleanup costs.  

While the street sweeper removes a wide variety of debris from city streets, the big vacuum cleaner will not pick up grass clippings. Grass clippings clog the screen filter, which impedes performance and causes unnecessary wear and tear on the $100,000 machine.  

“The grass stops it up and burns my big blower belt,” Mr. Stinnett said.  

When the machine stops up, Mr. Stinnett must return to the shop and wash the filter. Grass clippings left in streets cause a waste of fuel and time, and water that eventually flows into the drainage system. Adding up the cost of man-hours, fuel, and wear and tear on the machine equals to wasted tax money.   

“It takes 30 or 40 minutes just to wash it out,” he said. Leaves stop it up “if they’re wet, but grass is the worst.” 

Mr. Stinnett said to treat grass clippings in the spring and summer the same as leaves in the fall.
“Put them in a pile and let the knuckleboom pick it up. They (residents) can mulch it or put it in a bag as long as they don’t put it in the street,” he said.  

In addition to being environmentally unfriendly, wet grass clippings in the street make it difficult to stop quickly. 

So far, fleet maintenance has been able to adjust the belt without replacing it, but Mr. Stinnett said they have replaced the bearing in the blower motor in the four-year-old machine. 

“I take care of it because it’s my responsibility when I’m in it,” he said. 

Call the Cleveland Public Works Department at 472-2851 for questions about waste disposal or call 479-1913 to report illegal dumping or for more information.