BATON ROUGE, La. – The Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has extended by a month its final sweep of debris from state roads in Washington and St. Tammany parishes.

Freddie Gardner, DOTD program manager, said the final sweep, which started Dec. 7, 2005, and was scheduled to end Thursday, has been extended to Sunday, Feb. 5. He said FEMA extended its funding for debris collection because of the volume of debris.

Gardner said DOTD’s contractor, DRC Inc. LLC, will collect all debris from beside state roads within state rights-of-way through the new deadline.

Gardner encouraged residents to put out their storm debris prior to the deadline. He also reminded them that the pickup is only for storm debris, not regular household garbage.

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