Be Aware -- Illegal Dumping in Waterways

[dingo]

I was absolutely appalled to see that in Graton, on the Green Valley Road bridge over the Astascadero Creek, near the Joe Rodota hiking trail, someone has recently dumped INTO THE CREEK: a kitchen stove, a refrigerator, a hot water heater, and random other unidentifiable metal and wooden objects. I reported this to a person who works for the parks last week, but the appliances have not been removed as yet. Think of all that freon and toxic chemicals leaching into the water! Please, when you hire someone to haul away your refuse, be sure they are reputable – meaning that they will take their load to a designated county transfer station and not dump it illegally in the woods or into our precious waterways. It’s bad enough we have disgusting herbicide runoff choking our roadside drainage ditches and killing our creeks. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">West</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> is blessed with an abundance of wildlife and beauty. Let’s not let greed and ignorance spoil it. How can we increase public awareness? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[NudeTea]

I have no idea why people do this. Someone keeps dumping crap into the creek near my home as well. I'm so upset when I see that I want to just hang out at night and wait and watch. It's bad enough when I see it dumped along the roadside, but to toss it in the creek? No, I don't get it.

[Sciguy]

Dingo:

I can fully sympathize with your outrage at finding trash in a precious waterway.

However, you should not imagine that anything special happened when that trash went into the water. Every day millions of tons of so-called trash (and chemicals of every description) go into holes in the ground.


The reason they go into the ground is that this hides the wastage from the eyes of the public. We can see it going into garbage cans but they are an accepted part of the landscape, not a special creek. The assault on the planet and its limited resources is just as outrageous as the situation in the creek. It is actually incomparably worse since it is so much more huge, profitable and continuing. But it gets no comments.


Putting those items into our creek could be thought of an effective protest by progressive forces against the ongoing dumping that goes on constantly. Is it so different from PETA bringing animal cruelty to a public that would rather not think about it? Is it different from picketing the home of the president of Union Carbide who created the Bhopal disaster? Or the same thing for Exxon's CEO who lied about the Exxon Valdez? Bringing outrages forward to where their offensiveness is apparent to all is a well-known tactic.


Since no environmental activist came forward to take responsibility for the creek dumping, it is likely that it happened the way you assume - as an act of colossal irresponsibility by an unthinking individual. But I think it would be better for us all to make the alternate assumption - make the lemonade - take it as a reminder of the state of social irresponsibility that yawns at the enormous assault on our planet which is dumping and recycling and allows the politicians to hide and shelter and support the horrible garbage industry which any civilized society should find revolting.


I wish more people would join me at the Zero Waste Institute to actually chart a course of alternatives to the wanton destruction of resources that marches on unremarked. Your outrage against the kind of irresponsibility you see evidenced in the creek would be more effective if we could work for changes in behavior that would eliminate this awful, backwards acceptance of building discard into every product. Lamenting the destruction of the creek does nothing to change the accepted attitude of irresponsibility for unwanted goods that led to this event.


Paul Palmer

www.zerowasteinsitute.org (https://www.zerowasteinsitute.org)







I was absolutely appalled to see that in Graton, on the Green Valley Road bridge over the Astascadero Creek, near the Joe Rodota hiking trail, someone has recently dumped INTO THE CREEK: a kitchen stove, a refrigerator, a hot water heater, and random other unidentifiable metal and wooden objects. I reported this to a person who works for the parks last week, but the appliances have not been removed as yet. Think of all that freon and toxic chemicals leaching into the water! Please, when you hire someone to haul away your refuse, be sure they are reputable – meaning that they will take their load to a designated county transfer station and not dump it illegally in the woods or into our precious waterways. It’s bad enough we have disgusting herbicide runoff choking our roadside drainage ditches and killing our creeks. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">West</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> is blessed with an abundance of wildlife and beauty. Let’s not let greed and ignorance spoil it. How can we increase public awareness? <o:p></o:p>

[Photo Consultant]

I just want to post a few numbers for-illegal dumping into storm drains and creeks.

Immediate hazard -911
Non-emergency discharges within Santa Rosa 543-3800
Non- emergency outside of Santa Rosa 565-1152
Spills in flood control channels 523-1070

Creek Stewardship Program 543-3845

Hazardous waste recycling
Eco-desk 565-3375

[jean.redus]

Here's another way to report illegal dumping:
www.keepsonomaclean.org (https://www.keepsonomaclean.org/)

The site was created by four Sonoma County agencies to establish a multi-point program to reduce and hopefully eliminate illegal dumping in the county.

Thanks to Bob Burke for this info.

- Jean