Last year I had contacted the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area multiple times about a 55 gallon drum I found near the river within the park. My concern was that the drum had contents in it and it was labeled as oil. They informed me that they would take care of it. They had pretty much a whole year, so I went to check to see if it was still there. Leigh Ann Stratakos from 3 Moons Studio joined me and we turned it into a clean-up day as well. Leigh Ann does many clean-ups around the Delaware Water Gap and you can check some of hers out by clicking the link to 3 Moons Studio. Above is the view of the Delaware from the upper launch at the Smithfield Beach Access, our first stop and first small clean-up of the day.
This was collected from around the launch. We didn't stay too long or walk around this area too much, the barrel was the priority of the day and we knew we were also going to make other stops.
Our second stop was another short one before the going to the site of the drum. Here we stopped to take a look at a Bald Eagle's nest. Just the head of one of the adult eagle can be seen near the rim of the nest. At the time I couldn't really tell if it was an eagle or a patch of snow. It did end up being one of the eagles.
At that stop we picked up another small pile of trash around the parking area. From there it was on to our target for the day.
The ground in the area of the drum was still covered in snow and we had to find a different way in than I used last year. Before I had crossed the stream which is fine in warm weather, just not when it is cold and snowy. It didn't take us that long to find the spot and there it was, still in the same exact spot. Last year I even gave the National Recreation Area GPS coordinates right to it.
Leigh Ann helped me to lift it upright, something I couldn't do alone. Last year I thought it just might be wedged in some way in the debris pile, but I couldn't lift it just due to the weight. With it upright we were able to give it a shake. By doing so we could tell without opening it that it definitely wasn't water inside. This time I decided I was not dealing with the park and when I returned home I was going to contact the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
This was the trash we removed from the hike down to the barrel. It wasn't much, but most of the ground was covered in snow. We made several more stops before returning home, but didn't find much trash after this one. Thank you very much to Leigh Ann Stratakos for helping me out with this.
Update: I am just catching up on these posts now and several things have happened since we did this check. I did contact the DEP, which very quickly contacted the National Park Service. A park service representative called me and I was able to direct him to the barrel. I was called again, told it was found and that they would be calling a hazmat team in to remove it. I ask to be contacted when it was removed and I was told I would be. I have heard nothing from the park in over a month and there have been high waters in the Delaware. I think it is likely the Delaware took the barrel down river before the park service took action. Who knows though, maybe they will let me know it has been removed in the coming weeks.
See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA
No comments:
Post a Comment