‘It never stops.’ Operation Cleanup is Fresno’s special way of taking out the trash

For about three decades, the rumble of front loaders and the back-up beeps of loading trucks have been a once-yearly experience in Fresno neighborhoods as residents dispose of large, bulky items on the city’s dime.

Operation Cleanup is Fresno’s $5.6 million yearly effort that sends three teams of trucks and heavy equipment into neighborhoods, picking up old furniture, tree trimmings, broken bicycles and other large items. Every street is covered in a methodical, block-by-block process.

According to Solid Waste Manager Su Fang, about three decades ago, city officials, concerned about illegal dumping in south Fresno, started a special pilot project to keep illegally dumped junk out of vacant lots and alleys.

The project was an immediate hit. Officials decided to expand it throughout the community. Initially, Operation Cleanup visited each street twice a year, but Fresno’s growth has forced a change to just once yearly.

“It never stops,” said Fang of the teams’ year-round work.

Fresno’s Operation Cleanup crew

A five-person team works together, including the operator of “the Claw,” a large frontloader that lifts heavy items into the back of a large truck. There are drivers of two trucks that alternate pickups, then taking disposed items to a transfer station. Meanwhile, a driver of a warning truck blocks traffic so the Claw does not collect an errant motorist and his vehicle. A street sweeper cleans it all up.

Not everything will be picked up, inclucing refrigerators, air conditioners, tree stumps, large pieces of lumber, 50-gallon drums, construction debris, pipes and beams longer than 4 feet, paint, electronic equipment including TV monitors and computers, tires, ammunition and explosive material, including gunpowder, and creosote-soaked railroad ties.

Residents are also cautioned not to put items out early.

Here are the official guidelines.

Streets clogged with debris and scavengers

Neighbors sometimes complain on social media that scofflaws put throwaway items out early, extending the time streets are clogged with debris. Often, scavengers descend on a neighborhood before pickup in convoys of trucks at all hours of the day and night. They loudly kibitz, while rummaging through debris piles in search of treasures. Scroungers have been known to take apart old televisions to salvage copper wire, scattering broken glass and plastic.

Fang noted some fly-by-night trucking businesses drive into pickup areas and dump junk like old water heaters on debris piles to avoid landfill fees.

Sometimes, said Fang, residents put out TVs and other electronics in a violation of the rules. Cleanup workers usually pick them up in spite of the violation, and divert the items to a transfer station instead of dumping them in a landfill. Not picking up the items can inspire others to heap their own contraband on the pile, magnifying the issue.

There are more serious penalties, including a fine of up to $1,000 for those who drive into a neighborhood to dump junk.

Fang said some illicit trucking businesses use a widely available phone app to solicit customers using a bogus number, and subsequently illegally dump trash in a cleanup neighborhood to avoid landfill tipping fees. When city Code Enforcement officials try to track them down, they find the temporary number no longer works.

Here’s the city’s schedule for April. The Operation Cleanup website is frequently updated for the next month.

This story was originally published April 10, 2024 at 5:30 AM.