I have received numerous reports thatThe DC Department of Public Works (DPW) annual spring Household Hazardous Waste and E-Cycling collection event on Saturday was a COMPLETE FAILURE. Among the chief complaints:
- Wait times of over 3 hours
- Once cars entered the drop-off area, they were unable to leave - thus stuck and idling their cars (which causes more pollution) for up to 3 hours
- No on-site paramedics or emergency health care for residents effectively trapped in a 3 hour wait with no way out
- The event created a MAJOR traffic emergency on what is a VITAL evacuation artery for the District
- Chief staff at the DPW were unreachable during a MAJOR PUBLIC event that their office FAILED to execute
Please feel free to add more.
Mayor Fenty and the DPW need to understand the following:
- There is obviously a need for this type of collection more than once a year
- These events need to be carefully coordinated to ensure that they do not create risks to public safety
- The city would be better served by bi-annual ward based collection
- At least do it at RFK where people can pull up, drop off and roll out
If e-recycling becomes too difficult for the average citizen, then they will just toss their hazardous wares in the Anacostia, or dump it in an alley in Columbia Heights.
Washington Post article from Sunday which details the EPIC FAIL
CALL the office of William “Bill” Howland, Jr. at 311 and let him know your feelings on Saturday’s event.
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Tags: Bill Howland Jr., DPW, Fail, Household Hazardous Waste and E-Cycling, Mayor Fenty
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Here’s where they went wrong:
(Sorry Dan T, City Administrator, you’re usually a smart cat, but this massive failure wasn’t just the function of a beautiful sunny day. A weak explanation, in fact, that only points to the truly poor quality of the city’s planning: It’s late April. Were you banking on rain? Who plans that way?)
1. Putting someone in charge of a major bi-annual event with no expert capacity to handle logistics at scale.
2. Deciding to promote the event more broadly and with greater anticipation than ever before, but not calculating the basic math: more promotion = more people, thus you best be prepared!
3. Failing to read the pulse of the people, or, more clearly, the current climate of an informed citizenry that is hyper-aware of environmental destruction and wanting to do whatever they can to “go green” — and therefore woefully underestimating actual turnout.
4. Overlooking the obvious. When 300 cars line up at 7 am for a 9 am event, you best be kicking it into gear and rethinking your plan.
5. Not understanding the value of coordination and communication — with residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Carter Barron, DDOT (you know, otherwise identified as d.), and METRO.
Big ups to Juan, Johannes and Eric who took my heated calls at the District’s Call Center and Dept of Homeland Security and handled themselves quite professionally. What I don’t understand is why the Director of Recycling wasn’t answering his phones. Did he decide to take advantage of the beautiful sunny day and get out of the city?
Barry may not be mayor anymore, but this isn’t too far from the madness we endured back in the day. Really, in the event of a true disaster or emergency, is the District prepared?
anyone else catch the part in the Post article where Dan T. only waited an hour to drop off his stuff? was there an express lane for city officials? if 300 people were there at 7am for a 9am start, the least he could have waited - by virtue of being first in line - is two hours plus the number of minutes it took to unload.
DPW to Conduct Make-up Household Hazardous Waste/E-cycling Event, Sa
Posted by: “Grant, Linda P. (DPW)” linda.grant@ dc.gov
Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:00 pm (PDT)
DPW TO CONDUCT “MAKE-UP” HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE/E-CYCLING COLLECTION
EVENT, SAT., MAY 3, 9 AM-3 PM, AT RFK STADIUM, LOT 7
(Washington, DC) The DC Department of Public Works announced today that
it will conduct an additional Household Hazardous Waste/E-cycling
collection event, to accommodate District residents who did not get a
chance to participate in last Saturday’s semi-annual event.
“Last week’s event attracted more than twice the number of people who
came last year,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “Not
everyone could stay until their turn to unload their toxic items and
unwanted electronic goods, so we are offering this additional collection
event to apologize to residents and express our appreciation for their
commitment to protecting the environment. ”
WHO: DC Department of Public Works
WHAT: Household Hazardous Waste/E-cycling Collection Event
WHEN: Saturday, May 3, 9 am to 3 pm, rain or shine
WHERE: RFK Stadium, Lot 7, 2400 East Capitol St., SE (If driving
west on East Capitol St., stay in the right lane to reach the Lot 7
Entrance Gate. If driving east on East Capitol St., make a left on 19th
St. then a right on C St. and use the C Street Entrance. See the map
for directions.)
May 17: Weekly Drop-offs Begin
Beginning May 17, DPW will provide weekly HHW/e-cycling collections for
District residents on Saturdays at the Benning Road Trash Transfer
Station, 3200 Benning Road, NE, 8 am to 3 pm. Later this summer,
Saturday HHW/e-cycling drop-offs will begin at the Ft. Totten Trash
Transfer Station.