Community members of Mohawk Valley and one University student grunted as they dragged a rusted fuel tank through the underbrush at an illegal dump site in Drury Creek. They threw moss-covered plywood into trucks and bagged soggy notebook paper, hoping each piece of cleaned up garbage would send a message to polluters that their actions are socially unacceptable.
Local residents accompanied University environmental studies student Tony Andersen on Saturday morning to clean up illegal dumpsites in Mohawk Valley, which is located in Marcola about 20 miles northeast of Eugene.
Andersen, a senior also majoring in Planning, Public Policy and Management, is working with the Bureau of Land Management to create awareness about the issue of illegal dumping in Lane County.
“This is just a proactive way, not only to keep the environment clean, but to get the community together,” Andersen said. “We are promoting community awareness.”
The detrimental effects of illegal dumping can be seen on the environment, the city of Marcola and on the economy, volunteers said.
“I think it’s pretty disgraceful to the woods, said Jack Turner, a volunteer and citizen of Mohawk Valley. “I’m not proud of it. I’m not proud of us as a human species.”
Volunteers working along Drury Creek encountered waste ranging from scrap metal and a refrigerator to household trash and yard debris. At another illegal site around Cash Creek, volunteers collected approximately 50 bags of trash and 10 tires in addition to other miscellaneous waste, Andersen said.
“One of the reasons the dumping is so bad in the Mohawk Valley is the proximity to Springfield and Eugene,” said Jared Weybright, a University alumnus and coordinator of the Mohawk Watershed Partnership. Major reasons to dump illegally are associated with the fees charged at dumpsites, the limited hours of operation and long distances people have to travel, according to the University Environmental Studies Service Learning Program’s Web site.
“I don’t want a refrigerator in my lake,” said Tanner Rucker, a 22-year-old local resident who heard about the cleanup from a member of the Mohawk Lion’s Club. He said he decided to volunteer because he was tired of seeing trash scattered throughout his community.
“They probably don’t live out here,” Rucker said of polluters, adding that because they don’t see the consequences of their actions they have no reason to stop illegally dumping.
Weybright said people from outside the community often see the trash and assume they can dump there too.
“If a site is clean, people are a lot less likely to dump,” Weybright said. “The best way to stop it is let the people know the community is out there watching them.”
Those caught illegally dumping are fined between $410 to $810, according to the University Service Learning Program’s Web site.
“I think people find the quickest place to dump, and do it, and get away without getting caught,” said Ken Watson, volunteer and member of the Mohawk Lion’s Club.
Volunteers look for methods of identifying the illegal dumpers, including pieces of mail and prescription bottles. They report the names to the Bureau of Land Management, which investigates the leads, Weybright said.
The Lane County Parks and the Public Works Department spend an estimated $15,000 a year on cleaning up illegal dumping, $5,000 of which is spent on dumping fees, according to the University Service Learning Program Web site.
The Bureau of Land Management paid for Saturday’s dumping fees and has agreed to invest in three more years with the program, Andersen said.
“This is kind of establishing it as an annual event,” Andersen said.