NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 22, 2004   Trash Collection Will Begin Early on Code Red/Code Orange Days   (Washington, DC)  As it does almost every summer, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) will issue several Code Red and Code Orange Alerts in the coming months. Air quality is considered very poor during these days, which are hazy, humid and hot.    Concurrently, the National Weather Service is expected to issue several heat advisories for those days when heat and humidity combine to drive the heat index (HI) above 100 degrees. Under either of these circumstances, strenuous outdoor work can be unhealthy.   For the safety of its employees, the Department of Public Works will begin residential trash collection one hour early on Code Red and Code Orange days. The early start will ensure completion of all trash collection routes, while providing heat relief to workers. Residents are asked to have trash, as well as recyclables, set out by 6 am.   “We normally ask residents to have trash out by 6 am because collection usually begins at 7,” said Interim Director William Howland. “However, during the summer, we plan to have our packer trucks in the neighborhoods and picking up trash as early as 6 am, whenever a Code Red or a Code Orange Alert is issued by the Council of Governments.”    A Code Red designation indicates a hazardous mix of atmospheric conditions: a heat index in the mid-90s or above, stagnant air and no precipitation. Code Orange represents a lesser level of lung-irritating ozone in the air we breathe, but is only somewhat less dangerous to human health.