WHAT A LOAD OF BS. Typical government bureaucracy.
First they take our money and say we need to pay for trash services. Which is fine, till you take that money, spend it elsewhere, and then stop the trash services. Then they LIE and tell us that prices have gone up and blame it on the private sector when its ALL YOU. If you are going to SCREW us on the trash at least be honest about it.
Hamada said BLM will not be able to provide trash service because the cost of collecting the trash has gone up and revenues have gone down because of decreased visitation.
But the owner of Mission Disposal, who has the contract for trash service in the dunes, said he has not raised the price.
“I would do it for the price I am doing it for now forever,” said Mission Disposal owner Larry O’Harra. “I could hold my price where it is now for the next five years.”
The contract costs BLM $400,000 per year. Hamada said it is the local agency’s “biggest operation maintenance contract.”
Actual Article below
BLM drops garbage pickup in dunes
By BROOKE RUTH, Digital Media News Editor
The more than 1 million annual visitors who come to the Imperial Sand Dunes will no longer be provided with trash service by the end of January and instead will be encouraged to “pack it home.”
Many, however, are concerned visitors will not take Bureau of Land Management’s advice and pack their trash home, instead leaving it in the desert or dropping it off at local businesses on their way home.
“Local businesses will be impacted with this trash,” District 5 Supervisor Wally Leimgruber said. He said it is important to maintain the trash service to help the local business community.
Desert RV Park on Wake Avenue in El Centro provides those returning from the dunes a place to dump their holding tanks and get fresh water. The general manager said if these customers dump their trash at the park, it will have a huge impact.
“In the middle of the snowbird season we struggle to keep up with the trash, and having a significant amount from the dunes would really be a burden to us,” general manager Les Smith said.
Neil Hamada, Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation area manager for BLM, said he is worried about users polluting the desert. To combat that, he said BLM is working with America Sand Association and United Desert Gateway to reach out to the public and educate them about keeping the recreation area clean, healthy and safe.
“We don’t want duners to overburden the infrastructure in those cities (Yuma, Brawley, El Centro),” said Mike Reber of the American Sand Association Inc.
Hamada said BLM will not be able to provide trash service because the cost of collecting the trash has gone up and revenues have gone down because of decreased visitation.
In order to maintain the same level of other visitor services, such as law enforcement, BLM had to reduce one of its contracts, Hamada said.
But the owner of Mission Disposal, who has the contract for trash service in the dunes, said he has not raised the price.
“I would do it for the price I am doing it for now forever,” said Mission Disposal owner Larry O’Harra. “I could hold my price where it is now for the next five years.”
The contract costs BLM $400,000 per year. Hamada said it is the local agency’s “biggest operation maintenance contract.”
Law Enforcement
Gary Peadaffyduck, president of Imperial Valley Racing, said he knows the fees users pay to play in the desert fund law enforcement but thinks a “piece of the pie” should go toward trash service.
Leimgruber agrees.
“We know law enforcement is very important, but these waste receptacles are a needed item in our area,” Leimgruber said.
To fight littering, the BLM’s Hamada said those caught leaving trash behind will be issued a citation, Hamada said.
Cathy Kennerson, chief financial officer for United Desert Gateway and chief executive officer of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, said law officers, while plentiful in the dunes, will not be able to catch all offenders.
“That is going to be a huge challenge,” she said. “The dunes are quite large.
“We were not given a lot of time to tell the duners” about the January deadline, Kennerson said.
decreased visitors
Leimgruber said there have not been as many visitors because of the economy and high gas prices.
There was a drop-off in the number of visitors last year and Kennerson said her group anticipates an additional drop-off this year because of the economy.
Hamada said in order to have gone out to bid for trash service BLM would have needed to have the money in May, and did not in part because of a decrease in those that visit the dunes.
What next?
Future avenues of interest include looking for federal money to assist in paying for trash service and looking to private vendors.
Kennerson said she has been in contact with Rep. Bob Filner, D-Chula Vista, for help in finding a solution.
Leimgruber said one of the ideas brought up is to work with private vendors to provide trash service and charge a fee to users.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
My name is Mike Reber. I was quoted in this artical. After reading it, I too question WHO IS LYING?
I would like to see a follow-up artical from the Imperial Valley Press addressing the discrepancy here.