Illegally dumped appliances, couches, mattresses, the shell of a camper and hundreds of tires pulled from overgrown blackberries were hauled from South Park last week. It’s the first of 11 illegal dumping sites to be cleared in the next four months by King County’s Department of Natural Resources Solid Waste Division.

More than 6 truckloads of trash were hauled away in the four-day clean up at the county’s former South Park Landfill where trespassers broke through the fence. It’s estimated King County will haul away 20-30 tons of illegally dumped trash, 30 tons of old tires, 40 junk vehicles, 10 appliances and 70 tons of compostable materials from the 11 sites scheduled for clean up.

"Illegally dumped trash is not only ugly, it is a health and safety issue for nearby residents," said Solid Waste Division Manager Rod Hansen. "People need to be responsible for their actions and realize they are endangering others and sometimes hurting fish and wildlife habitat when they illegally dump trash, cars and appliances."

Several organizations either pick up or accepted old appliances and tires for recycling for a small fee. A list of these organizations can be found on the King County Solid Waste Division’s website: http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/.

King County’s clean up is made possible through $30,000 in funding from the state Department of Ecology’s Community Litter Cleanup Program. The Solid Waste Division identified 11 sites to be cleaned up by working in partnership with the cities of Seattle, Des Moines and Issaquah, as well as the state’s Department of Corrections, the non-profit environmental organization Friends of the Trail, and the county’s departments of Parks, Transportation, Adult Detention, Development and Environmental Services and Health.

Updated: August 18, 1998