@floatybirb @sundogplanets Gravity pulls on the small bits just as hard as the big bits, so modulo initial trajectory everything should be coming down at the same speed. Debris should clear as fast as the satellites do.
I take the insider at face value. They know more about planned lifetime than I do. I trust them to have told me the truth as they understand it, and they're pretty technical.
If it's "years" instead of "decades" that seems less bad to me.