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Department of Ecology News Release - December 10, 2007
07-363
OLYMPIA – Even before flood waters in Southwest Washington started to recede, Department of Ecology Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) members were on scene in Lewis, Grays Harbor, Pacific and Kitsap counties helping make a difference in the lives of their neighbors affected by the storm.
At the height of the flood, 50 WCC members from throughout Western Washington played a crucial role in helping fill and stack sandbags in flooded areas in Thurston and Grays Harbor counties.
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, WCC crews showed up in the nick of time at the Qwest Central Office facility in Rochester with a dump truck full of sandbags and a crew that “literally dove in to help us keep the water from taking our site,” said Darrel Leimback, a supervisor with the telecommunications company Qwest.
“If the office had been lost, there would have been no telecommunications in that flood stricken area at a time that was absolutely critical. It wasn’t only about saving Qwest’s facility – it was about ensuring all emergency activities going on in the area had reliable communications to effectively conduct their operations,” Leimback said.
Currently there are about 100 WCC crew members deployed from Doty to Ocean Shores and up into Kitsap County. About five crews are helping staff emergency shelters and distribute Red Cross supplies to needy families. Others are scattered about helping with cleanup efforts including:
“I have directed Ecology’s WCC to continue their cleanup assistance to ensure that people get the help they need through the holiday season,” said Ecology Director Jay Manning. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to get homes cleaned up and people’s lives back to normal.”
On Sunday, Dec. 9, WCC crews helped avert a barn fire by emptying it of soaked and smoldering hay. Crews are also lending assistance to other farmers with wet livestock feed.
“The spirits of our crews are high – as well as the people they are helping,” said WCC manager Rob Spath. “Our crews and the people of Lewis and Grays Harbor are standing tall this week, helping each other out. People who have lost their homes are stopping to help others to save their home from being lost.”
Ecology’s WCC crew supervisors have gained hardened, hands-on experience, helping with the Katrina and Rita hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf Coast. The WCC also sent crew members to Lady Lake, Fla., and Aurora, Mo., to help with storm recovery, including ice storms.
This is not the WCC’s first response in their home state. The WCC responded to several disasters including the November 2006 floods when 50 members responded to flooding throughout the state, including Snohomish, Skagit, Chelan and Thurston counties. The majority of this work involved sandbagging along major rivers.
WCC crews went on to spend nearly 10 months in Mount Rainier and Olympic National parks, the Nisqually Reach National Wildlife Refuge and other areas repairing trails, reconstructing bridges and boardwalks, and removing debris.
AmeriCorps crews in the Midwest and other areas of the country have volunteered to send members to Washington to help with the flood recovery efforts. Ecology is doing a workload assessment to see if and where it might use additional AmeriCorps crews.
AmeriCorps is a national program in which young adults earn a living stipend and a college scholarship. The WCC program is part of AmeriCorps.
Ecology’s WCC program is made up of 125 women and men between the ages of 18 and 25. There are WCC crews in more than 20 locations across the state. As AmeriCorps members, WCC workers receive a living stipend and a $4,725 scholarship from the national AmeriCorps program after completing their service.
The WCC service year starts in October and concludes in September the following year. The WCC is hiring for half-time positions ($2,362.50 scholarship) that begin in March. Typical work includes building trails, planting trees and other natural vegetation, and biological monitoring.
In addition WCC members attend a series of paid trainings throughout the year such as search and rescue, wild land firefighting and hazardous materials response.
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Media contacts: Curt Hart, media relations, 360-407-6990; cell, 360-480-7908; char461@ecy.wa.gov Rob Spath, Washington Conservation Corps manager, 360-407-6936; rspa461@ecy.wa.gov
For more information about the WCC: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
