Terry Farrell
Record staff
The 2016 Comox Valley Community Clean-Up is nearly upon us, and the momentum is growing every day.
The CVRD has come on board once again this year, waiving the dump fees for us.
Mike Dimery, owner of Dim’s Bins, will be supplying us with a huge garbage bin, free of charge, for the second year in a row.
And J.R.Edgett Excavating Ltd. will be on hand once again this year with a backhoe to load the really heavy stuff.
What’s really caught on this year is the Pick a Park concept.
To date, we have 10 groups that have committed to cleaning up an area on the morning of April 23.
James Barth, founder of the Facebook group “Stop Comox Valley Illegal Dumping” has a crew to clean up the illegal dumpsites at Cook Creek Road and McNaughton Road in the Fanny Bay area.
For the past year or so, Barth has been monitoring illegal dumping in the Comox Valley.
“We have beauty all around us, but we have to walk through trash to get to it,” he said, from a popular dumping ground on Cook Creek Road. “That’s sad. That’s really sad that we have to tolerate this.”
Barth has stopped tolerating it. He is out on a regular basis, cleaning up anything he can.
Last week, I visited the site he has picked to clean in this year’s Comox Valley Community Clean-Up.
“Some of this stuff has been here for years,” Barth said as we strolled down a narrow roadway. “Comforters tossed in the bushes, tires… and the argument that it costs too much to take it to the dump, I just don’t get it. Most hauls it will cost less than $20, to do the right thing. You spend that much on a couple of cases of pop.”
Barth said sometimes when he is touring the popular dumping spots, trucks will drive past him, full of garbage, looking for places to dump. There have been times where the drivers have seen him and turned around.
“I call that a small victory,” said Barth.
April 23 is all about the small victories, and more people and groups are joining in all the time.
Kindred Snowboards jumped on board when they saw the event posting on Facebook, saying that they would “gather a group of Mervillers to clean up the dump sites around the Tsolum and on Farnham Road. It’s our route to Mount Washington, and there is plenty of cleanup to be done.”
The Facebook group We Are Wilderness is also committing to clean the Tsolum River area.
The Comox Valley Pickleball Association adopted the Highland Park area.
The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce will have a crew at Standard Park and the surrounding area.
Karla Yianna sent me a message saying she and her family “would like to tackle the roads heading towards the Courtenay side of Comox Lake and Bevan area,” and Jim Vin sent me a message saying he will look after the area east and west of Condensory Bridge.
The CVCS (CV Land Trust) /Morrison Streamkeepers know of a particularly messy area on Lake Trail Road at Miromar Road that they said they would take care of that morning, and the Point Holmes Rec Association said they would clean up the Point Holmes Waterfront along Lazo Road.
Project Watershed is the latest to join the clean-up. They will have a committee taking care of the Airway Park Lagoon.
If you are interested in getting involved, there are many ways to do so. You can call me at 778-225-0029 or send me an email at editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com, or visit the 2016 Comox Valley Community Clean-Up page on Facebook.
You can also just show up to the Courtenay and District Fish and Game Club (3780 Lake Trail Road) on the morning of April 23. The plan is to start cleaning at 8:30 and be finished by noon, so we can enjoy a celebratory lunch, out at the Fish & Game Club.
We live in a beautiful part of the world. Let’s all get together and give it a good cleaning.
Terry Farrell is the editor of the Comox Valley Record
