Baltimore to lease a dozen modern street sweepers for $10 million
Staying within pollution limits is the goal of the purchase, which comes amid criticism of the dilapidated state of city sanitation yards and equipment
Above: A city street sweeper sits at DPW’s sanitation yard at 3300 East Madison Street in 2015. (Mark Reutter)
If you haven’t seen a mechanical sweeper coming down your street in a long time, it’s because “too many sweeper trucks are out of service for repairs,” the Department of Public Works acknowledged in a recent memo to the Board of Estimates.
The situation spells trouble not so much for residents frustrated with trash bunching up in gutters and blowing outside their front doors, but for the city itself, which risks running afoul of the NPDES Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit issued by the state.
Under the latest permit, approved in 2021, at least 300 tons of debris must be removed from the runoff going into storm drains each year.
To stay in compliance, DPW is contracting with an Ohio company to supply a dozen new, state-of-the-art sweepers for the next 21 months at a cost of $9,961,000.
The contract follows intense criticism of harsh and “inhumane” working conditions at DPW by Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming and city labor unions.
The death of Ronald Silver II, who collapsed last August while working on his sanitation route, has led to pledges to fix garbage trucks with broken air conditioners and locker rooms without functioning showers or sinks.
Last year, the city ordered new garbage trucks, but as of last spring, only 20 of 80 new trucks had arrived. Officials have attributed the delay to manufacturing and supply chain problems.
Mayor Brandon Scott and DPW Director Khalil Zaied approved the new street sweeping equipment at yesterday’s BOE meeting.
Broken lockers and radiators found by Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming at DPW’s Eastern Sanitation Yard last July and BELOW a derelict garbage truck parked at the city’s 3300 East Madison Street yard. (Office of the Inspector General, Google Maps)
An Aging Fleet
The sweepers – eight compact units and four large trucks for gateway routes – will initially be assigned to the city’s East Side, tasked with reducing the amount of chemicals, dirt, yard waste and other street refuse that winds up in local streams and the Baltimore Harbor.
Sweeping Corporation of America (aka, Reilly Sweeping) will provide three or four sweepers and drivers at a time, increasing to the full complement of 12 sweepers after 75 days, charging the city a $100,000 mobilization fee and a daily rate of $23,400, rising to $24,000 in year two.
The new sweepers use a regenerative air system to suck debris off the surface and are considered superior to the aging mechanical fleet owned by the city.
Equipped with GPS trackers to record the miles swept and debris collected, the trucks can also be deployed for the emergency clean-up of chemical spills and toxic hot spots, according to DPW contract documents.