Pierce County residents who woke up to storm debris in their yard can dispose of it for free at county transfer stations. Public Works and Utilities provides an ongoing program to compost yard waste — branches, leaves, shrubs, and small limbs (under 4 inches in diameter) — free of charge at the following locations:

Puyallup/South Hill/Graham Areas — Hidden Valley Transfer Station, 17925 Meridian Street East; Open 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. seven days a week

Gig Harbor Peninsula — Purdy Transfer Station, 14515 54th Ave. NW (144th St NW @ 54th Ave NW); Open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. seven days a week

Key Peninsula — Key Center Transfer Station, 5900 Key Peninsula Highway North; Open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday; Closed Monday and Tuesday

Bonney Lake / East Pierce County — Prairie Ridge Transfer Station, Prairie Ridge Dr E @ South Prairie Road East; Open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. seven days a week

Anderson Island — Anderson Island Transfer Station, 9600 block Steffenson Road; Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays; Open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays

Note: All of the facilities will be closed on Thurs., Nov. 25, for Thanskgiving. Customers who pay for curbside yard waste collection can put compostable debris inside yard waste containers and place at the curb on their regular collection day. Debris must be inside the container. Debris placed next to a container will not be collected. There will not be a special collection of windstorm debris at the curb. The most effective way to mitigate storm damage is through drop-off at the transfer stations. Residents should not place storm debris at the curb or along the road. It is unsafe and illegal to dump wind storm debris into public rights-of-way, storm water facilities or other public property. Please call the Pierce County Responds hotline at (253) 798-INFO (4636) to report illegal dumping. City of Tacoma residents should contact the city at (253) 591-5543 or visit http://www.cityoftacoma.org for information on Tacoma’s programs. Additional information is available online at http://www.piercecountywa.org/solidwaste or by calling (253) 798-2179.