“Despicable”

We've been meaning to write about this sore subject for some time.

Waitsburg resident Clyde Burdine finally inspired us to take it on when he stopped the Times publisher on his way back from a jog up Whoop Em Hollow Road.

Burdine, who drives up and down Mill Race several times a day, pointed to the carcasses of several hogs dumped next to the culvert that runs under the road near the intersection with Whoop Em Up Hollow.

He suggested we draw attention to something he says is becoming someone's "bad habit."

Burdine took the first step by offering a $200 reward for information leading to the prosecution of those responsible for this so-called "Midnight Dump." We carried a small article on the reward in last week's edition.

You see, this isn't the first time this drainage area, barely half a mile from Waitsburg city limits, has been used as a dumping ground. This publisher has seen the remains of deer and even a sturgeon on both sides of the road during the past two years.

Walla Walla County Health Department Administrator Harvey Crowder said his agency was involved in removing the remains of two dead goats no more than three years ago.

"It's been a continual problem," said Crowder, who also noted his agency hasn't been involved in any other dumping incident quite like it.

The agency was called in because the goats were dumped in their entirety. The recent carcasses had been gutted.

We realize this isn't the most appetizing subject to read about and we apologize for that.

But we also feel it's important to call the perpetrator on his or her act, particularly since there several other means to dispose of animal remains.

As Crowder put it, the ongoing dumping of animal remains in or near the Mill Race culvert is "despicable."

The Midnight Dumper(s) broke just about every rule in the book.

Washington Administrative Code requires that the owner of a dead animal or the owner of the land on which it's found to dispose of the remains within 72 hours in a way that removes it from public view immediately; that keeps it from becoming a public nuisance or causing pollution of surface or groundwater; and that disposes it by burial, land filling, incineration, composting, rendering or other methods approved by local public health officials.

It's not clear what penalty violation of the code carries, but illegally dumping more than a cubic foot of any kind of solid waste alone carries a $1,000 fine.

Livestock owners with dead animals on their hands have the option of burying them on their land under three feet of dirt. Not everyone has the land to do so, although it should be noted that taking on the responsibility of keeping livestock should be well thought out.

Even then, animal owners have the option of taking the remains to the Walla Walla County landfill off Highway 12 near Touchet.

The facility, which has a special area for the disposal of animal remains, can take animals as big as cows or horses. The Columbia County transfer station does not accept them.

Obviously, no one but the perpetrator(s) knows whether the dumps were made by the same party or several different Midnight Dumpers. Whether it's a "bad" individual or group "habit" doesn't matter, it needs to stop.

There's absolutely no excuse for this wanton disregard of public health and the environment.

As Crowder noted: "There's no reason to do it (illegally dumping animal remains) other than wanting to avoid spending the time and energy (to do it properly)."

Many hunters, fishermen and farmers here live by a code of the West that's as old as the first pioneers and the native people before them, showing respect for the environment and its inhabitants.

Worse than merely violating formal state laws, these acts violate that unspoken code.