Volunteers sought for desert cleanup at end of Maule Avenue

DUANE PROKOP/ViewTrash sits in the empty lot at the western end of Maule Avenue, approximately a half-mile west of South Fort Apache Road. Volunteers are needed to clean up the area on Saturday. Advertisement

The housing crisis is affecting the desert in a bad way. It's become the dumping ground for tossed TVs, abandoned boats and battered appliances, all chucked among the construction trash left by contractors and landscapers.

"Some people don't even bother to drive into the desert, they just dump it on the side of the road, that's how lazy they are," said Tom Warden, senior vice president of community and government relations for The Howard Hughes Corp., an affiliate of General Growth Properties and developer of Summerlin.

Now, Summerlin and other entities have organized a big cleanup effort and are asking for volunteers.

A concerted desert cleanup effort is planned from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. The meeting spot is at the western end of Maule Avenue, approximately a half-mile west of South Fort Apache Road.

Volunteers are needed to collect small trash and will be supplied with trash bags and gloves. Bottled water and morning snacks will be handed out, and box lunches also will be provided after the morning effort. Volunteers must be at least 10 years of age.

Many people are needed, as the targeted area encompasses more than 200 acres of desert. Roughly half of it is Summerlin land, Warden said, with the rest evenly divided between the Bureau of Land Management and private entities.

A team of local contractors is supplying both equipment and manpower to remove heavy items such as appliances.

The effort is being organized by Hughes, the Public Land Institute's Don't Trash Nevada program, the Southern Nevada Health District and the BLM.

Norman Kresge, an avid bike rider, lives in the area of the cleanup and sees the dumping almost daily. While his house doesn't back up to the site, he said it's like having his own backyard trashed.

"I don't know why people would do that ... I'd like to get hold of them and shake them up a little, but it'd probably be like talking to a rock," he said.

Beth Barrie, project manager for the interagency volunteer program for the Public Lands Institute, said people justify dumping by saying the area already was trashed.

She spoke of previous efforts that found TVs, boats and even a hot tub shell left in the desert. The latter prompted a tongue-in-cheek photo of volunteers lounging in it. Don't Trash Nevada, working in conjunction with Great Outdoors Nevada, has 2,900 registered volunteers. Some of the Las Vegas-area ones plan to be at Saturday's community effort.

"These are people who could be doing other (tasks) -- planting trees, restoring areas or addressing hiking trails," Barrie said. "Instead, we have to use these volunteer hours to clean up desert dumping."

David Goings and his family have been volunteering to clean up desert dumping sites since 2005. The family enjoys being outdoors and hiking and decided picking up trash would be a way to give back. The activity also passed along ethics to their children, now ages 18 and 19.

"It taught them that they have a responsibility, that they play a part in things that we, as a society, own," Goings said.

He said it sometimes was difficult to see how people trash the desert and agreed that 200-plus acres was a daunting task.

"We understand that picking it up this week does not necessarily mean it won't be there again next week," Goings said. "You just hope that sense of responsibility grows to involve everyone."

As much as the trash is an eyesore, there's another reason for concern.

Amy Irani, environmental health supervisor for the solid waste and compliance section for the Southern Nevada Health District, said items such as motor oil often are left in the desert. Motor oil contains arsenic, barium, cadmium and lead, elements that leak into the water table.

"One construction company got caught parking their diesel trucks in the desert," she said. "They were leaking fuel into the ground."

Participating contractors include ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, The Groundskeeper, Par 3 Landscape & Maintenance, TruGreen LandCare, TBL Landscape, Nevada Material Service and Panacea.

Republic Services of Southern Nevada will be donating several large trash Dumpsters and hauling them away.

Volunteers can register for the cleanup effort at http://www.getoutdoors nevada.org/eventsignup.htm. For more information, visit www.summerlin.com/cleanup or call 791-4412.

Contact Summerlin View and South Summerlin View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.