May 5, 2008

For immediate release

For more information contact:
Tammy Snodgrass or Bonnie Prigge, (573) 265-2993

Wal-Mart DC Managers Assist With Conical Sink Clean Up
MRPC seeking volunteer groups to help with illegal dumps

ST. JAMES—It was not a typical work day at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center for Plant Manager Brad Frazier and 13 distribution center managers. On April 16, the 14 gathered along with Klaus Leidenfrost, US Forest Service wildlife biologist, and Nongluk Tunyavanich, Meramec Regional Planning Commission environmental specialist, to continue cleaning on Conical Sink, the illegal dump site located along Phelps County Road 8540 near the Phelps and Pulaski counties line.

Conical Sink is nearly 100 feet deep and was used for many years as an illegal dump. Meramec Regional Planning Commission, Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District and the US Forest Service have been coordinating the clean up effort. So far, 3.4 tons of metals, 2.02 tons of trash and 126 tires have been removed. Hundreds of bags of trash are being held in the bottom of the sink along with some metals, awaiting the final lift of a 75-ton, 202-foot boom crane.

Volunteers have donated 104 days of labor to the clean up project, and much work remains.

The Wal-Mart DC volunteers started at 8 a.m., making their way to the very bottom of the sink, to bag trash. By the end of the day, the group had amassed a mountain of filled trash bags. Frazier and the Wal-Mart DC, located in St. James, has been a long-time supporter of illegal dump clean ups. Beginning in 2004 with MRPC’s very first clean up, Frazier has provided bottled water, heavy duty trash bags, rakes, cookies and a door prize for a volunteer day. Frazier is planning another manager volunteer day later this month, weather permitting.

MRPC continues to look for help in cleaning up Conical Sink and other illegal dumps. Businesses, individuals, schools, churches, civic organizations and neighborhood groups interested in volunteering should contact Nongluk Tunyavanich at 573-265-2993.

MRPC also maintains a hotline to report illegal dumping 1-800-NO2-DUMP. Persons needing more information on the MRPC, ORSWMD or the illegal dump cleanup program should also contact Tunyavanich or Tammy Snodgrass at (573) 265-2993.

The terrain is rough but that didn’t stop progress. Managers with the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in St. James took a day to help bag trash in Conical Sink, a 100-feet-deep sinkhole near the Phelps-Pulaski counties line.

Meramec Regional Planning Commission, Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District and the US Forest Service has been working for several months to clean up Conical Sink, one of the largest illegal dumps in the solid waste district’s seven-county area. More progress was made on April 16 when Wal-Mart Distribution Center Plant Manager Brad Frazier and 13 DC managers converged on the sink, leaving a pile of filled trash bags behind for disposal.

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