Jefferson County in $3 million disagreement with company hired to remove tornado debris

Jefferson County has a $3 million disagreement with the company it hired in May to remove tornado debris.
The dispute centers on a $3.4 million bill that Ceres Environmental Services submitted for removing stumps from public roadsides. Jefferson County contends it owes only $137,700, said Wayne Sullivan, director of the county's Roads and Transportation Department.
"Their figures and our figures don't match. There's a huge discrepancy," said County Manager Tony Petelos, who said he turned the issue over to the county's legal department.
The county's bankruptcy adds a further wrinkle to efforts to resolve Ceres' final invoice. "We cannot comment since it's now in bankruptcy," company spokeswoman Susan Boxx said.


The dispute is rooted in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's particular rules for reimbursing the cost of cleaning up stumps.
Although FEMA covers at least 75 percent of cleanup costs, Jefferson County was being asked to pay much more for stump removal than FEMA would reimburse, according to the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, which met with the county over the issue.
"They were being charged a significant amount for that service," said Yasamie August, a spokeswoman for the Alabama EMA. "Once you pay that money out, if FEMA won't reimburse the cost, then you're left holding the bag."
FEMA will pay premium prices for large stumps that are more than halfway uprooted and must be pulled up the rest of the way for safety reasons. But for stumps smaller than two feet in diameter or already out of the ground, FEMA will pay no more than the cost of hauling off trees, branches or similar debris.
"In such instances, applicants do not incur additional cost .¤.¤. because the same equipment that is used to pick up 'regular' debris can be used to pick up these stumps," FEMA's policy says.
In addition, except for documented emergencies, FEMA must agree on the front end that an uprooted stump is hazardous and needs to be removed.


The county's contract with Ceres specifies that stumps not approved in advance by FEMA will be paid for on a "cubic yard basis." But there is a big difference between the contract's rate for regular vegetative debris and for stumps.
The contract lists the rate for removal and hauling of hazardous stumps as $99 a cubic yard to $279 a cubic yard, depending on the size. The contract rate for regular vegetative debris was less than $8 a cubic yard.
County officials said the higher rate could be charged only when Ceres had to remove stumps and had FEMA approval.
August said no other jurisdiction has reported a payment dispute with debris contractors. "This is kind of unique to this county and this situation," she said.
Despite the disagreement, Jefferson County officials continued to praise the job Ceres did in cleaning up not only unincorporated communities but hard-hit cities such as Pleasant Grove. "They did a great job," Petelos said of Ceres. "The county was very pleased with the work."