An informal survey of Wrangellites conducted by the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) concluded illegal dumping and recycling were the top environmental issues locally.
The survey’s 158 respondents were asked to rank, on a one-to-five scale, 16 environmental issues, ranging from safe drinking water to mining issues on the Stikine River. The survey also included a place for respondents’ own suggestions. The scores for each issue were then combined and ranked according to how high they had scored. Under this rubric, dumping scored a 678, narrowly beating out safe drinking water (676) and the annual Wrangell cleanup program (634).
A separate question asked “Should we create a recycle/reuse program?” Respondents overwhelmingly answered “Yes.”
IGAP will use the survey results to gauge which grants to apply for and which potential programs should receive priority efforts, according to Trevor Kellar, IGAP’s assistant environmental tech.
Illegal dumping was already the subject of a two-day clean-up effort on behalf of two temporary Wrangell Cooperative Association (WCA) employees earlier this year. A recycling program is waiting on the borough to obtain the necessary equipment, officials have said. Petersburg enacted a borough-wide recycling program earlier this year. The Boy Scouts and Lyons Club recycle aluminum cans collected from public dispensaries.
A comprehensive recycling program will require the use of both a baler and crusher to compress collected recyclables to the maximum amount to make the program financially feasible, borough officials said. Once that equipment is obtained, the WCA and IGAP could work to furnish the city with curbside receptacles, Kellar said.
Other issues, listed by rank, were as follows: fuel-oil-contaminated soils, trash, contaminated subsistence foods, battery clean up, beach debris and raw sewage spills (tied for eighth), abandoned vehicles, indoor air pollution, abandoned drums, discarded construction materials, air pollution, dead animals and fish, and mining issues on the Stikine River.
While the survey isn’t scientific, it’s still useful, Kellar said.
“Although it’s not scientific in its approach, we do think that this survey was a success,” he said.
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