As Oregon gears up for the solar eclipse and the potential for a million visitors, the concerns are mounting just as fast as the excitement. There鈥檚 worry about traffic, the threat of forest fires, overwhelming emergency services, and one problem that would be sure to stink: trash.
Federal, state and local authorities, as well as environmental activists, are hoping trash won鈥檛 be left scattered on Oregon鈥檚 public lands, beaches and parks, but are preparing for what could be ugly.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have dumpsters in place. We鈥檒l have extra port-a-potties in place in popular areas where we鈥檙e expecting heavy impacts and lots of traffic,鈥� said Stephen Baker with the U.S. Forest Service鈥檚 Pacific Northwest region. 鈥淲e are really going to be encouraging people to pack it in, pack it out. Leave no trace ethics are incredibly important.鈥�
But there鈥檚 no doubt among experts that there will be an impact, although there鈥檚 no way to pinpoint the scale of it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like having a giant concert in the middle of nowhere suddenly,鈥� said Rob Guttridge with Recycle Advocates.
鈥淭he eclipse is definitely unprecedented for us,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also concerned about people going off trail and damaging sensitive species.鈥�
Guttridge said he鈥檚 still fairly optimistic visitors will do the right thing, although he worries about one place in particular: 鈥淚鈥檓 concerned that people who are going to be stuck in traffic — that leads people to do things they might not do if they were more comfortable.鈥�
鈥淟itter pickup crews will be busy,鈥� he added. 鈥淰olunteer roadsides cleanup folks will have something to do for sure.鈥�
The Forest Service is already planning to partner with volunteers for cleanup events following the eclipse.
Removing trash from beaches is top priority for Lincoln County, where there鈥檚 worry high tides could send garbage into the ocean before it鈥檚 collected.
Solid 黑料网 Manager Mark Saelens said crews and leaders have strategized for months, and will treat the eclipse like a large-scale 4th聽of July weekend.
North Lincoln Sanitary Services President Tina French agrees the constant stream of summer crowds flocking to the coast gives them an edge.
French said crews will put out extra dumpsters and make sure all waste collection cans are empty before the big August weekend.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be crazy on Tuesday — but at the end of Tuesday, we can wipe our brows and say 鈥楪ood job team,鈥� and be done鈥�
But across the state in the little town of Madras, they鈥檙e not quite as used to the tourism that the coast and even Bend get, and the city鈥檚 population could explode to ten times the size.
鈥淲e鈥檝e purchased extra containers,鈥� said Madras Sanitary Service Manager Kevin Haugen. 鈥淓verything we鈥檝e got, we鈥檙e going to have it out. We鈥檙e not letting anyone take any time off and we鈥檒l be working some odd hours, some long hours just trying to control the chaos.鈥�
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