AshBritt Environmental completes California wildfire debris cleanup

AshBritt CEO Brittany Perkins, left, discussing cleanup operations with employees from AshBritt and the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers.

AshBritt Environmental, a disaster recovery and environmental services contractor in Deerfield Beach, Florida, has announced that it has concluded the scope of its debris cleanup after the October 2017 wildfires in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties in California under the leadership of the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers, Washington.

AshBritt, in partnership with numerous local contractors, vendors and team members, initiated debris cleanup in November 2017 and hauled more than 775,000 tons of fire debris to recycling facilities and landfills, using up to 550 hauling trucks per day and employing more than 1,000 people. The total amount of fire debris hauled under this cleanup mission equals more than twice the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Partnerships with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state of California and with local businesses were critical to the mission's success. Of the hundreds of projects AshBritt has worked in our 25-year history, this mission was of particular significance and emotional impact due to the many property owners we had the honor of interacting with during the cleanup. The resiliency displayed by the communities is truly inspiring," Brittany Perkins, AshBritt CEO, says.

"AshBritt committed to utilizing local and small businesses to do a wide range of the mission work, including debris cleanup, environmental services and operations administration. We're proud to have hired and worked with Northern California contractors impacted by the fires and that we utilized more than 70 percent union crews. Ensuring local economic recovery alongside debris removal is an AshBritt core value," Perkins says.