• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Litterbugs infest station ranges

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 200337133212
Story by Sgt. M. Trent Lowry

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz.(March 6, 2003) -- Station environmental department personnel have discovered that a large amount of rubbish has been deposited within the confines of the western portion of the Barry M. Goldwater Range, and it's a problem that will cost the Marine Corps and taxpayers money.

According to Marie Stewart, a specialist with the range compliance and oversight division of the environmental department's quality assurance division, the air station is responsible for the stewardship of more than 760,000 acres of land in the western portion of the Goldwater Range, since the November 2001 acquisition of the property from the Bureau of Land Management.

The land in question stretches from Avenue 10E and County 14th Street, close to the air station, to just west of Dateland, Ariz., in the Mohave Valley. In the time that the Marine Corps has assumed responsibility, environmental department personnel have found tires, vehicles, furniture, appliances, construction materials and various other forms of debris strewn throughout the desert.

"Every day we find new trash," said Herbert "Gil" Guillory, environmental department director. "The rubbish is scattered throughout the range. Distance is apparently no object, because we have found trash miles from anywhere."

On the surface the problem may seem to simply be an annoyance, similar in a smaller scale to having the neighborhood strays tipping over trashcans. Unfortunately, Guillory said, the problem is not that easy.

As formal stewards of the land, the station is required to see that the environment is kept in a satisfactory state. In order to clean up the debris that is left in the ranges, the environmental department has to contract out to companies that are licensed to remove and store solid waste, a cost to the Marine Corps that should be unnecessary.

"The actions of a few people are costing the taxpayers money," Guillory said.

There are other concerns that arise out of environmental protection policies that can cost the Marine Corps even more money. For instance, the station is only classified to store a certain number of old tires, but with the large number of tires that speckle the desert landscape, the station could get fined if it can't find a place to properly dispose of the used rubber.

"It's very difficult and very expensive to manage the land when people dump their garbage on it," Guillory said. "It is putting your tax dollars to work cleaning up after other people's waste."

Another cost comes when the litter is left off the beaten path. In order to remove rubbish found away from established trails, companies contracted by the station must initiate an archaeological survey around the pristine land, an added price to the cost of cleanup.

The environmental department prides itself on being compliant stewards of the land, and is taking steps to clean up the area, especially since there is the potential for the dumping activities to become an epidemic.

"The trash lying there is an invitation for someone to come along and say, 'The trash is already there, so I can dump whatever I have, too,'" Guillory said.

The people who dump their rubbish in the seemingly remote Goldwater Range could have made it easier on everyone, Guillory said, since there are waste transfer stations at 32nd Avenue and Avenue 3 1/2E and on Laguna Dam Road about two miles west of Highway 95. The transfer stations are often less remote than the sites where garbage has been dumped in the Goldwater areas, and they don't cost the taxpayers a dime, Guillory said.

"Personally, I feel it's irritating," Stewart said while driving on one of the Goldwater Range's trails. "I love the desert. There are a lot of things out there -- animals, plants and rocks -- that are fascinating. The people who dump their garbage out here show a complete disregard for others and are disrespectful."

Though the station environmental personnel, range wardens and range maintenance personnel tour the ranges when they have the opportunity, Stewart says it is too difficult with small numbers of people to patrol the area and prevent the litterbugs from leaving their debris behind.

"I guess I'm more of an optimist, in that I think they are not aware of the impact their dumping has," Stewart said. "There are always the few who don't care, even when they know they're wrong, but I honestly believe that those are in the minority, and that if people were taught what kind of damage they are doing, they will listen and take better care of the environment."

Though they will continue to toil to keep the desert free of rubbish, Stewart and Guillory said there is something that everyone can do to help.

"If you see anyone dumping on the Barry M. Goldwater Ranges, please call the Provost Marshal's Office, the Environmental Department, or Range Maintenance," Guillory said.