Halifax makes it easier for residents to rid properties of trees and branches

Halifax makes it easier to get rid of tree debris City is deploying a ramped-up strategy to deal with all the mess from post-tropical storm Dorian. Paul Hollingsworth reports.

There has been a great deal of progress over the last 10 days cleaning up the mess left by post-tropical storm Dorian.

The Halifax region has deployed a ramped up enviro-strategy to deal with debris and make it easier for property owners to get rid of trees and branches.

Jerome Barkow's reaction to the effort made by the HRM so far is positive.

"I think they've done a fine job," said Barkow, who lives on Beech Street in Halifax.

The city has also come up with some new and innovative ways to tackle the abundance of debris. They've set up temporary drop-off sites, which are jam-packed with branches and trees.

"It's at no cost for residents," said Halifax spokeswoman Maggie-Jane Spray. "We're covering the cost for that."

Normally-scheduled city services are also fully operational and producing mounds of mulch-like chips -- fresh from the chipper.

"The plan is to use those in our parks and in our active transportation trails," Spray said.

Even some residents are taking full advantage of the windfall.

"My car was damaged by some heavy oak branches falling," Barkow said. "So, I took out my chain saw, and once they dry a bit, I'll be in my living room, looking at those suckers burn and thinking 'revenge.'"

Others are seeing the big picture and hoping the storm might be a possible environmental turning point.

"Let's turn this calamity into an opportunity and see how we can have more bio-diversity in our city," said Karen McKendry of the Ecology Action Centre.

McKendry says it's nice to see such a productive cleanup effort by the city, but she cautions not all debris needs to be carted away.

"A downed tree has more species living on it than when it was standing," McKendry said. "Insects, wildlife, molds and microbes and all sorts of stuff we don't get to see."

With files from CTV Atlantic's Paul Hollingsworth.