Litter, Illegal Dumping & Recycling Program

Washington State Parks Annual Case Study Report

2003

Litter, Illegal Dumping and Recycling Program

10 illegal dumps were cleaned up in FY 03– 4 old large dumps

– 6 parks also removed car hulks, tires and other solid waste materials that would have attracted more illegal dumping if left alone.

In FY 03 we received $32,000 from the Department of Ecology (DOE); Parks matched these funds with over $50,000 in staff time and equipment used on the program.

Litter, Illegal Dumping and Recycling Program

• 5 parks added educational recycling programs following the model set at Fort Flagler

• A few other parks have some recycling activity. Some parks have asked for help in replacing, upgrading and improving equipment in biennium 03-05

• Pet Waste Disposal Program was given thousands of bags

• Over $1,500 worth of plastic recycling-can bags was given to three parks

• 30,000 vehicle litter bags were given to parks for staff and guests; a value of $2,000

Airtek* Indoor Educational Recycling Center

Airtek * recycling system in use for 2 years at Fort Flagler

Also at Lewis & Clark, Fort Worden and Cornet Bay in 2003

* Airtek of Canada is the only manufacturer of this system

Airtek Outdoor Containers

Airtek outdoor recycling containers have been placed at Riverside, Lewis & Clark and Fort Worden in 2003

Fort Worden put a few 3 hole Airtek recycling centers into guest houses

Fort Flagler has used this simple household system for over 3 years

Indoor Container at Fort Flagler

These units, which are made in the USA, use a simple design with labels on the inside of the lids

Recycling Systems at Moran State Park

• Moran has Waste Warrior outdoor equipment which uses buckets with no liners

Indoors, Moran uses unique Recycled Recycler units by Midpoint International, made of recycled plastic

Litter & Illegal Dumping Program

Case Studies of Dump Sites Cleaned-up in 2003

Wallace Falls

Wallace Falls in phase 1 removed over 30 hulks, 130 piecesof old furniture, and over 200 tires; plus 10,000 pounds of loose waste was taken to a landfill. In phase 2 they removed 6,000 more pounds of loose waste with a vacuum truck.

Wallace Falls

Wallace Falls

Miller Peninsula

Sequim Bay staff removed 10,000 pounds of waste, 12 hulks, and several tires and appliances in FY 03.

Miller Peninsula

Barrier trenches (on dirt roads or trails), that staff have built to keep people out, often had appliances and old motor bike parts dumped in them. The Miller area is a magnet to littering/dumping.

Nisqually-Mashel

Friends of The Trail billed Parks for only 7 hours, yet worked many more in partnership with park staff to clean up a large dump. Solid waste removed totaled 5,500 pounds, plus 7 hulks and over 100 tires.

Nisqually-Mashel

Illegal dumps clean-ups in parks often attract local media attention. That was the case for Shawn Douty at Federation Forest where the local paper ran a story on clean up in June 2003.

25 Mile Creek

A historic dump, dating from the 1920 - 30’s, had not been used since the late 70’s when State Parks acquired the land. Site only found this past year in remote area by Ranger Dennis Mills.

25 Mile Creek

25,000 pounds of loose waste was removed, plus many bigger items like tires, hulks, appliances and other household trash.

25 Mile Creek

Big items removed included a 1920’s washer. The washer will stay at 25 Mile Creek SP, with flowers in it in front of the ranger station with an interpretive sign about the dump clean-up and reclamation.

25 Mile Creek

Ranger Dennis Mills plans to back fill the dump remains, cover them with top soil and seed with native plants. This completion of the project will be his Natural Resource Stewardship project in 2004.

Recap - Litter, Illegal Dumping

• Rangers from Wallace Falls and 25 Mile Creek both plan to use the restoration of these dump sites as the theme for their Natural Resource Stewardship projects.

• With DOE funds, a total of 92,400 pounds of illegal dumps were removed from nine parks; plus two hulks buried in the sand were removed from the south beach area:

25 Mile Creek 25,000 poundsWallace Falls 17,000 poundsMiller Peninsula 10,000 poundsDeception Pass 10,000 poundsFort Flagler 9,500 poundsAlta Lake 7,500 poundsNisqually-Mashel 6,000 poundsSacajawea 4,400 poundsGreen River Gorge 3,000 poundsFort Canby 2 hulks

Recap - Recycling• Fort Worden, Lewis & Clark, and Cornet Bay installed new

Educational Recycling systems from Airtek

– State Parks is currently working with Capital Industries, GA and other vendors to design recycling systems for use in parks with a standard design and labels for visitors to recognize

• Riverside SP and Pearragin Lake SP also put in a recycling program in 2003 with DOE funds:

• Pearragin purchased materials and designed and built their own collection center

• Riverside purchased outside containers as well as office staff recycling units

Summary Litter, Illegal Dumping and Recycling Program

FY04 Projects Started …

Riverside State Park • Received funds in FY04 for an innovative approach to the

problem of abandoned car oil; a $800 storage container has been ordered to save time and funds.

• Tipping fees for Riverside’s August Centennial Trail clean up will be covered up to $1500; with local governments covering other costs

• Fort Canby has asked for help on an annual big clean-up in September estimated at $1500; and local government will cover the balance

Summary Litter, Illegal Dumping and Recycling Program

• Funding from DOE for biennium 03-05 is $45,000

• Priorities:– Litter & Illegal dump clean-up – Recycling programs

expansion

• State Parks field staff will help achieve these priorities:

– Illegal dumps in parks will be reported and cleaned-up promptly.

– A master list of all parks will be compiled in 2004 to identify and evaluate parks’ recycling programs. This information will help the agency understand and improve Litter and Recycling programs in future.