by Cristina Bauss
March 13, 2007
Article courtesy of The Independent
A major effort to clean up local creeks and river bars recently received a big boost from the Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue Team, led by firefighter and critical-incident coordinator Diana Totten. On Saturday, March 3, the team helped haul 3,100 lbs. of garbage out of the Bear Gulch area, as well as a popular homeless camping spot on the banks of the Eel River.
The Rescue Team rappelled down the steep embankment below the Bear Gulch Bridge, where trash left behind by transients and some locals – including two shopping carts – covered the ground and even hung from brush and trees. “Diana Totten came up with the idea of practicing their rappelling, and they bagged it all up,” explained John Casali, a Redway resident who has been the driving force behind recent efforts to clean up trash at several local homeless camps. “We didn’t even have to ask them. They volunteered.”
In an interview with The Independent four weeks ago, Casali explained how he first learned of the situation with illegal dumping around local creeks and the Eel River, and expressed his frustration with county and state agencies that have apparently ignored the problem. At the time, Casali and his sister, Sandra D’Amato, were working on a petition to distribute to residents and business owners, asking the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors for help “to clean up toxic waste off our river bar.”
According to Casali, between 800 and 1,000 locals signed the petition, and word spread fast of the efforts by Casali, Friends of the Eel River, and some local homeless to conduct cleanup as best as they could. Totten approached him about cleaning up the Bear Gulch embankment (an impossible task without rappelling equipment), other residents have donated funds towards the cleanup efforts, and Second District Supervisor Roger Rodoni has been apprised of the situation – and the importance of government’s role in combating the problem.
“I took the petition to Roger, along with 10 glossy pictures [of trashed areas],” Casali said. “This stuff is going into our river, our drinking water, our swimming holes. He acknowledged that it’s an ongoing problem, and he would like to find a long-term solution; but it appears that there’s a certain element that’s drawn to the area because it’s easy to get government assistance. Roger told me 53 percent of our budget goes to welfare, and that there are 70 different county agencies that deal with it. He said he couldn’t possibly name them all.” [A message left for Rodoni had not been returned prior to press time.]
In both interviews with The Independent, Casali was quick to point out that it’s a certain element that’s responsible for most of the garbage – not all of the homeless. In fact, a number of them have taken to patrolling the areas where trash is often dumped, and make certain that transients coming into Southern Humboldt are well aware of local efforts to keep the area clean. “The homeless are really working on it,” Casali said. “They’re keeping an eye out, and telling people coming in: ‘If you dump, you leave.’”
Sadly, some of the people who dispose of trash near creeks and the river are locals looking to avoid dump fees: on Wednesday, March 7, some local men dumped 100 wooden pallets, along with paper, plastic, aluminum siding, and beer bottles, on the river bar behind Renner Petroleum, Caltrans, and PG&E. More than 8,000 lbs. of trash have been removed from that area alone since last fall; the brushy strip above the river flat serves as a popular, albeit illegal, camping spot. The following evening, the men came back – but the homeless camping out there were ready and waiting: they made a commotion and the men left, but not before their license-plate number had been recorded. The incident was subsequently reported to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
Casali commended the Sheriff’s Office, which in Southern Humboldt is overseen by Sgt. Ken Swithenbank, for its efforts in attempting to rein in the situation. It’s a Herculean task for a small group of deputies, though, especially in light of the fact that much of the dumping appears to be drug-fueled: Casali described “tweaker flats” (methamphetamine-related) down the river, in the Dean Creek area, where there are “piles of garbage, in camp after camp. And don’t tell me dilution is going to get rid of the toxicity.”
Since August 2006, Casali and other local volunteers have removed more than 13,000 lbs. of trash from local creeks and river flats. Last fall, the Humboldt County Health Dept. removed an additional 4,000 lbs. Casali conceded that his campaign has taken a toll on his personal life and on his peace of mind, and expressed exasperated fury with being stymied by the 16 county and state agencies he has approached so far. “Why do we get all these grants to fix the streams,” he asked, “but we put up with garbage being dumped on our river bar?”
For more information about cleanup efforts, or to volunteer, contact Friends of the Eel River, 923-2146.
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