Southwest Washington counties receive litter cleanup money

Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release - Sept. 25, 2003

03-190

Southwest Washington counties receive litter cleanup money

OLYMPIA - Eleven Southwest Washington counties will share $696,000 in state grants to address litter and illegal dumping.

The Community Litter Cleanup Program, administered by the Department of Ecology (Ecology), provides funding to local governments that have approved plans to clean up litter and illegal dumps and to provide anti-litter education in their communities.

During 2001-03, the grants helped the counties pick up more than 2 million pounds of litter and 39,000 illegal dumps on 24,000 miles of roadway and 24,000 acres of state and private land.

The Southwest counties are Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston and Wahkiakum.

Unlike many other state grant programs, the local governments do not have to provide matching money from their own budgets. However, they often contribute in other ways, such as waiving disposal fees, paying for crew labor and donating the use of county equipment.

"This work at the local level is central to our state's success in litter cleanup and litter education," said Laurie Davies, a manager in Ecology's solid-waste program.

Funding for the grants come from a tax imposed on industries whose products are related to the litter problem.

###

Contact: Sandy Howard, public information manager, 360-407-6239

For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/litter/
Report litterers: 866-LITTER-1

EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS: Here is a list of how much funding each county received, plus a local contact for each.

Clallam County will use $62,361 to maintain its broad-based litter-pickup program. The county's integrated program includes representatives from political subdivisions, county corrections, public works, the sheriff's office, the utility district, the roads division, the solid-waste advisory committee and others. County contact: Matt Blore, 360-417-2272.
Clark County will receive $61,245 for its litter program, administered by the public-works department. The county's comprehensive program has separate programs for watershed areas (rivers, creeks and lakes), the county, Vancouver and other cities in the county. Inmate crews are used to pick up litter and remove waste at illegal dumps. Inmates spent nearly 18,000 hours picking up more than 284,000 pounds of litter and illegally dumped material during 2001-03. County contact: Rob Guttridge 360-397-6118, ext.4344.
Cowlitz County's Corrections Department is awarded $59,903 to continue its year-round litter-cleanup program. During the last funding cycle, it purchased a new work van, and inmates collected 70,000 pounds of trash from 250 miles of roadway and cleaned up 386 illegal dumps. County contact: Joseph Hennessey 360-577-3105, ext. 2259.
Grays Harbor County gets $61,721 for its litter-cleanup program. The goal is to clear litter from public roadways, illegal dump sites, parks, beaches and other public-access areas in the county. The program has been highly successful at removing tons of materials from roadsides and illegal dump sites. The county is largely dependent on natural resources and is aware that its efforts will help improve the habitat for endangered species in the Queets-Quinault, Chehalis and Willapa watersheds. County contact: Mark Cox, 360-249-4222.
Jefferson County is receiving $61,111 to tackle litter and illegal dumping that places a burden on both government and citizens in the county. The county's program has just shifted from the juvenile services department, using youth-at-risk crews, to the sheriff's office. The revised program will continue collecting litter and illegally dumped materials and maintain working relationships with the county's health and human services program as well as others concerned with the problem. County contact: Sheriff Mike Brasfield, 360-385-3831, ext. 520.
Lewis County gets $65,804 to help run its year-round litter-pickup program. More than 185,000 pounds of trash were removed from 329 illegal dumps from 2001to 2003. County contact: Roger Schang, 360-740-6397.
Mason County will receive $49,274 for its litter cleanup work, which involves coordinated efforts by the sheriff's office, the city of Shelton, DNR, the Skokomish tribe and community volunteers. County contact: Shannon McClelland, 360-432-5126.
Pierce County's "Pierce County Respond Program" will use $92,931 to clean up some of the most heavily littered regions in the state. Nearly 100,000 pounds of litter were collected on 1,790 miles, with only 1,312 hours of inmate labor during 2001 to 2003. County contact: Stephen Wamback, 253-798-4656.
Skamania County will receive $51,728 to help pay for picking up illegally dumped materials along roads in national forests, as well as trash from recreational traffic along dangerous highways in the Columbia River gorge. Inmate crews managed by the sheriff's department collected more than 60,000 pounds of litter and trash along 586 miles of roadway and from 150 illegal dumps from 2001 to 2003. County contact: Dale Midland, 509-427-9490.
Thurston County will get $96,595 for its litter pickup program. Work has concentrated on Interstate 5 interchanges and local roads, using county jail inmates. Thurston County collected more than 82,000 pounds of material from more than 439 road miles in 2001 to 2003, and more than 6,500 pounds were recycled. County contact: Michelle Andrews, 360-786-5136.
Wahkiakum County will use its $30,649 to boost employment and deal with numerous illegal dump sites. Through its litter-control program, the sheriff's department has managed to maintain a pristine State Route 4 along the Columbia River and control its worst illegal dump sites. County contact: Dan Bardsley, 360-795-3242.