The dumpsters at Wrangell’s public harbors are for boat owners only and for their household trash only — but that hasn’t stopped people from tossing in waste oil, fishing nets, appliances and even a Volkswagen Beetle cut into pieces.
“It’s been bad forever,” Harbormaster Steve Miller said last week.
In an effort to stop or at least reduce the illegal dumping, the port commission on Thursday, Feb. 1, voted unanimously to recommend assembly approval of a new ordinance to explicitly prohibit throwing non-harbor and non-port related trash into the dumpsters.
A second ordinance, which also won unanimous port commission support, would set the fine for violations at $150.
The ordinance would make clear that the dumpsters are for port and harbor users only, “strictly prohibiting the dumping of hazardous waste, oil products, gasoline, large commercial fishing gear, construction debris, furniture and any other bulky or dangerous items,” according to a summary Miller presented to the port commission.
“In the past, we have pulled out refrigerators and even a Volkswagen Bug cut into pieces,” he said in an interview the day after the port commission meeting.
Miller explained the VW — minus the engine — was cut into one- and two-foot chunks and dropped in a harbor dumpster about eight or nine years ago.
“We still have people who put entire refrigerators in there,” which requires borough workers to tip over the dumpster on its side so that they can pull out the heavy appliance, he said.
As much as a refrigerator is heavy and bulky, it’s nothing compared to the 2,000 pounds of cement bags dumped in a harbor trash bin several years ago, Miller said. The garbage truck couldn’t lift the dumpster. Workers had to step in and remove the bags to lighten the load.
People also dump construction debris, including Sheetrock, into the bins. Miller noted that few boat repair projects use Sheetrock.
The Port and Harbors Department maintains trash dumpsters at Shoemaker and Heritage harbors, and at the Reliance, Standard Oil, Inner Harbor and Fish and Game floats.
Rope and fishing nets are among the biggest problems for the borough’s garbage trucks, getting tangled up and making trouble for the moving parts of the pickup-and-compact truck, Miller said.
He described the ongoing problem as “no common sense on what belongs and what doesn’t belong.”
In addition to supporting the ordinances to focus on illegal dumping and impose the fine, the port commission discussed the deterrent effect they expect from the surveillance cameras that are being installed at all of Wrangell’s port and harbor facilities — including cameras pointing at the dumpsters.
Port commissioners agreed that if people know they are being watched, maybe more of them “will put two and two together and save themselves some money” by taking their trash to the borough transfer site on the north end of the island where the fees are far less than a $150 ticket.
The proposed ordinances will be scheduled for a public hearing if the assembly decides to proceed with considering the changes in borough code.
NEW PUMP-OUT STATION
AT SHOEMAKER HARBOR
In other action at last week’s port commission meeting, members unanimously supported using $7,500 of borough funds to match a $22,500 federal grant to pay for installation and maintenance of a sewage pump-out station for vessels at Shoemaker Harbor.
The pump-out station would be in addition to the existing facilities at Heritage Harbor and Reliance floats, Miller said.
The new Shoemaker sewage station would be for vessels only; there already is a pump-out hookup for RVs at Shoemaker and Heritage harbors, he said.
The pump-out site at Shoemaker was stubbed in years ago for a sewage connection to the borough system, Miller said.
“I’m really glad there was forethought there,” Port Commissioner Chris Buness said.
The resolution to spend the local money required for the federal grant will go next to the assembly for approval.
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