By Mark Wilson (Contact)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A local contractor is lending a hand to help clean up illegal dumping at an area nature preserve after reading about the problem in the Courier & Press.
And another area business has agreed to provide discounted materials and donate the labor to block the opening where the dumping was taking place.
Eagle Slough is a 127-acre area of wooded wetlands in Vanderburgh County that is being developed for public use as a nature preserve and birding location. It is located on Waterworks Road, across from Ellis Park.
Several organizations and numerous volunteers have joined forces to acquire and develop it. The area previously was used for illegal dumping, target shooting and other activities.
Volunteers removed eight tons of tires and trash from the slough last year. But supporters of the project have found it difficult to prevent the activities from continuing.
The discovery this month of several large loads of roofing shingles and other garbage dumped there was especially frustrating, said Greg Meyer, a local attorney who volunteers with the nature preserve.
"I went from being about as bummed out as possible last weekend when I saw what had been done out there to really being as excited as I can be," Meyer said. "It's not just because the response from the two companies, either. I looked at the online comments to the article, and I got several phone calls. Everything has been overwhelmingly positive. The response really shows what kind of community we have, and it has really turned my attitude around."
The dumping was especially problematic, because removing it likely would be more expensive than the project's shoestring budget would allow and also because of the risk of flooding, he said.
"I was worried because it looked like the water was going to be coming up. It seems like that isn't going to be a problem now, but we definitely need to get things out of there before the flooding does come back later this spring," Meyer said.
Dennis Gates, the owner of Ace Roofing in Evansville, said his foreman brought the newspaper report to his attention.
"We said why don't we see if we can help. We'll get our backhoe and truck and haul it to the dump and get it done properly," he said. "Guys like that give all of us contractors a bad name. It just reflects poorly on all of us."
After looking at the debris on Friday, Gates estimated there were six or seven truckloads of shingles there.
Byron Cooper, vice president of Sticks & Stones Landscaping Materials, said he also looked at the area and estimated it would take one or two very large stones, strategically placed, to block the opening where the dumpers were driving through.
"In order for people not to push them around, they will need to be at least a ton or more," he said. "That will damage the vehicle of anybody who tries to push them or drive over them."
The hope, he said, is that it will deter people from even trying.
Cooper said he will provide the rocks at discounted price and furnish the equipment and labor to set them.
"Part of our philosophy is to give back to the community, and nature projects like that we like to help out," he said.
"Here you have some people attempting to do something really neat with nature, and other people are messing it up."
Meyer said he got the idea to block the opening with stones from an online comment posted on courierpress.com.
The Vanderburgh County Soil & Water Conservation District, Four Rivers Resource Conservation & Development Area, Wesselman Nature Society and The Nature Conservancy pooled their resources to acquire the area.
The organizations have been maintaining the area out of their own budgets. Developments such as a trail, overlook deck and signs are being paid for with donations earmarked for those purposes.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A local contractor is lending a hand to help clean up illegal dumping at an area nature preserve after reading about the problem in the Courier & Press.
And another area business has agreed to provide discounted materials and donate the labor to block the opening where the dumping was taking place.
Eagle Slough is a 127-acre area of wooded wetlands in Vanderburgh County that is being developed for public use as a nature preserve and birding location. It is located on Waterworks Road, across from Ellis Park.
Several organizations and numerous volunteers have joined forces to acquire and develop it. The area previously was used for illegal dumping, target shooting and other activities.
Volunteers removed eight tons of tires and trash from the slough last year. But supporters of the project have found it difficult to prevent the activities from continuing.
The discovery this month of several large loads of roofing shingles and other garbage dumped there was especially frustrating, said Greg Meyer, a local attorney who volunteers with the nature preserve.
"I went from being about as bummed out as possible last weekend when I saw what had been done out there to really being as excited as I can be," Meyer said. "It's not just because the response from the two companies, either. I looked at the online comments to the article, and I got several phone calls. Everything has been overwhelmingly positive. The response really shows what kind of community we have, and it has really turned my attitude around."
The dumping was especially problematic, because removing it likely would be more expensive than the project's shoestring budget would allow and also because of the risk of flooding, he said.
"I was worried because it looked like the water was going to be coming up. It seems like that isn't going to be a problem now, but we definitely need to get things out of there before the flooding does come back later this spring," Meyer said.
Dennis Gates, the owner of Ace Roofing in Evansville, said his foreman brought the newspaper report to his attention.
"We said why don't we see if we can help. We'll get our backhoe and truck and haul it to the dump and get it done properly," he said. "Guys like that give all of us contractors a bad name. It just reflects poorly on all of us."
After looking at the debris on Friday, Gates estimated there were six or seven truckloads of shingles there.
Byron Cooper, vice president of Sticks & Stones Landscaping Materials, said he also looked at the area and estimated it would take one or two very large stones, strategically placed, to block the opening where the dumpers were driving through.
"In order for people not to push them around, they will need to be at least a ton or more," he said. "That will damage the vehicle of anybody who tries to push them or drive over them."
The hope, he said, is that it will deter people from even trying.
Cooper said he will provide the rocks at discounted price and furnish the equipment and labor to set them.
"Part of our philosophy is to give back to the community, and nature projects like that we like to help out," he said.
"Here you have some people attempting to do something really neat with nature, and other people are messing it up."
Meyer said he got the idea to block the opening with stones from an online comment posted on courierpress.com.
The Vanderburgh County Soil & Water Conservation District, Four Rivers Resource Conservation & Development Area, Wesselman Nature Society and The Nature Conservancy pooled their resources to acquire the area.
The organizations have been maintaining the area out of their own budgets. Developments such as a trail, overlook deck and signs are being paid for with donations earmarked for those purposes.
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