Charlotte County begins canal clean-up process

Charlotte County has begun a long process to clean some of the canals and other waterways after Hurricane Ian.

Crews started work at the Hayward Canal on Tuesday. They don’t know what’s in the water, it can be anything from signs to boats. Those crews will go through the canals foot by foot to figure it out and clean up the water.

It’s another step toward recovery, but to see this progress, you have to see below the surface.

“The contractor is just getting underway, they’ve done some assessment, but they don’t, we don’t know what’s underwater,” said Brian Gleason, communications manager for Charlotte County. “There could be everything from boats to trees.”

Tuesday morning, Charlotte County started the process of removing whatever debris might be under the surface.

“Their charge is to make the navigable waterways navigable, so they have to stay there and clean it out until they get to a certain depth of depth for the vessels to pass,” said Gleason.

Gleason said this is going to be a slow process, so they still don’t have a time estimate.
He did say that contractors will be launching from four different boat ramps in the county.

“They’re going to be at our boat ramps, loading up the vessels, with the crane, and other equipment to get out to the waterways, where they’re doing debris cleanup. So as you’re using our boat ramps, please, please be aware that the contractor is out there in the morning, early on, and getting ready to go. And just to be, you know, be careful in those areas,” said Gleason.

Gleason added that there would be a map online that shows where they are working and what areas they have already gone through.