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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Nov. 8, 1999
99-229
Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information manager, (509) 575-2610
YAKIMA - Ecology Youth Corps litter crews operating in Okanogan County cleaned 129 miles of roadway, accumulating 2,111 bags of litter and 581 bags of recyclables over an eight-week period this summer.
The 16 youths, ages 14-17, worked on three crews based in Omak/Okanogan,
Bridgeport/Brewster and Tonasket/Oroville.
"These kids are to be commended for cleaning our highways and sticking with a
job that's important, but sometimes tedious," said Glenn Duncan, with the
Washington Department of Ecology's solid-waste program. "Things got interesting
for the Tonasket/Oroville crew, though, when they stumbled on a den of
rattlesnakes one day."
In addition to bagging trash commonly thrown from vehicles, the crews also come across some more interesting items, such as car parts, hood ornaments, drug paraphernalia, diapers, and dead animals.
"Crews are trained to play it safe when it comes to certain items," Duncan said. "Ideally, we would not need litter crews if people were responsible citizens and properly disposed of their trash."
The Omak/Okanogan crew, supervised by Randy Langseth of Omak, included Chelsea Belles, Robert Bright, Ashley Jamieson, Brandt Kaemingk and Andrew Smith, all of Omak, and Pauline Crow of Okanogan.
The Bridgeport/Brewster crew, supervised by Kristy Barnes of Brewster, included Corey Haywood of Pateros, Sonia Moore, Kathleen Noble and Nancy Rios of Brewster, and Eric Lemons of Bridgeport.
The Tonasket/Oroville crew, supervised by Dennis O'Connor of Okanogan, included Adam Brazil, Elizabeth Morrison and Kelley Robeck, all of Tonasket, and Clayton Naillon and Tim Nelson of Oroville.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
