07/11/06     

Waste washes up in Vermilion River
Leslie Westbrook
lwestbrook@theadvertiser.com
 

Watershed operators Matthew Buckelew, left, and David Sanders collect litter from behind the Webb Coulee boom Monday morning.

The Vermilion River, especially north of the Pinhook bridge, was littered Monday afternoon with everything from beer cans to laundry hampers. Trash also was washed up along residents' backyards and lodged under docked barges. Two floating foam booms set in place to collect litter and debris along coulees that flow into the Vermilion River became detached twice in less than a week, sending trash into the river.

Matthew Buckelew, a watershed operator who collects litter and debris from the coulees and river, said trash never would have washed up if the booms hadn't been detached. Buckelew said boom detachment is rare and in this case looks suspicious."Vandals or something released two booms, causing trash to flow through. That kind of stuff just doesn't come undone by itself," he said.

The bright yellow foam and canvas booms at Rotary Point and Coulee Mine first were detached overnight Thursday. The second incident occurred overnight Sunday, when the boom at Coulee Mine was broken off at the point of attachment on the bank, and the other appeared to be severed in the middle of the boom.

Buckelew and another watershed operator, David Sanders, planned to reattach the two booms Monday afternoon with combination locks.

Cynthia Trahan, interim director of the Lafayette Parish Bayou Vermilion District, said she had not reported the detachments to police as of Monday afternoon. Buckelew said that when they do report incidents of vandalism to the Sheriff's Office, they are told patrols will be beefed up along the river.

Buckelew and Sanders are the only two watershed operators working to clear a 26-mile stretch of the Vermilion River of litter. Their jobs and equipment maintenance costs are paid for by about 22 percent of the revenue from a property tax in place since 1986. Voters will decide Saturday whether to renew the .75-mill, 10-year tax for the second time.

According to the Bayou Vermilion District, the tax costs about $2.38 a year for a homeowner with a residence valued at $100,000 who has homestead exemption.

"If things aren't kept in check," Trahan said, "then we're basically saying that we are OK with ugly pollution." Trahan said watershed operators collect enough litter from the boom dams and Vermilion River every two months to fill an 18-wheeler.

Sanders said besides basic litter, he and Buckelew collect discarded tires, sports equipment, drug paraphernalia, lawn furniture and appliances. They once came across a dead body, he said. Buckelew said drugs and paraphernalia are turned over to police and sports equipment is donated to city parks and recreation facilities. A third watershed operator may be hired soon, Trahan said, but it's not definite.

If voters renew the millage tax Saturday, the crew can keep working as usual. If the tax isn't renewed, Buckelew said, clean-up probably will stop when money runs out. He said when that happens, "the river's going to become a big sewage ditch."