Sugar Land contractors and staff spent two months collecting debris following Hurricane Beryl, resulting in a $7.6 million expenditure to the city.

In a nutshell

At a Sept. 17 meeting, Sugar Land City Council approved the emergency debris clean-up expense following Beryl’s landfall on July 8.

According to agenda documents, the city hired two on-call debris removal contractors, including:
Additionally, Thompson Consulting Services served as the city’s on-call debris progress monitoring contractor at a cost of $2.1 million, according to agenda documents.

The breakdown


From July 12 to Aug. 24, Sugar Land’s on-call debris contractors collected 187,311 cubic yards throughout three city passes, said Lauren Lathon, innovation project lead for Sugar Land.

Additionally, Republic Services, the city’s waste management service, picked up 6,510 tons of bagged debris that was not eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement, said Christian Eubanks, environmental manager for Sugar Land.

What they’re saying

“When I hear from other cities and where other cities are—many of which have not finished, some of which have not started—and to think we finished [debris clean-up] within days,” Mayor Joe Zimmerman said. “We really, really appreciate all the work our employees and the contractors put in on behalf of our citizens.”


Zooming out

Fort Bend County also announced the completion of its debris cleanup, which collected 552,177 cubic yards of debris from across the county, according to a Sept. 6 memo from Scott Wieghat, the Fort Bend County road commissioner.

Residents or private contractors with further debris should deliver to:
  • Blue Ridge Landfill at 2200 FM 521, Fresno
  • Fort Bend Regional Landfill at 4115 Davis Estate Road, Needville
  • Sprint Fort Bend Landfill at 16007 W Bellfort Ave., Sugar Land
Looking ahead

Although debris cleanup is completed, it could take anywhere from one year to 1 1/2 years for municipalities to see eligible refunds from FEMA, Lathon said.