City to begin collecting sandbags, hazardous waste from flooded Ottawa homes

As water levels on the Ottawa River continue to recede, the City of Ottawa will begin clearing away sandbags this week from areas of the city thatno longer need them.

Crews will be out picking up not only sandbags but also any household hazardous waste from flooded areas on Wednesday and Thursday, the city said in a media release.

The special pickups will last for three weeks.

• Full coverage of the flooding in Ottawa-Gatineau

People who no longer need their sandbags can place them at the curb, but any hazardous waste anything "flammable, corrosive or poisonous" must be stored away from the curb, inside a container, at a readily visible location, the city said.

The city is also urging people not to reuse the sand from sandbags in gardens, beaches or sandboxes as it may be contaminated.

'Best not to touch them'

In Gatineau, meanwhile, a city-wide pickup is being arranged this upcoming weekend, with volunteers expected to be shuttled around the city to remove some of the thousands of sandbags placed during the devastating floods.

The military and municipal public works employees alreadypicked up around 22,000 sandbags on Sunday from the city's streets.

"Sandbags have been in touch with the water from the river. They can be contaminated [with] bacteria, or there can be diesel that has touched them," said Yves Melanon with the City of Gatineau.

"So it's best not to touch them. We will take care of that."

The city would be reusing some of the sand from the sandbags for road maintenance, Melanonadded.

In Clarence-Rockland, Ont., which alsodeclared a state of emergency due to the flooding, crews started sandbag collection on Monday.