June 16, 1998
By JEFF BURLINGAME - DAILY WORLD WRITER, Aberdeen Daily World
OCEAN SHORES - Police are still searching for whomever dumped an estimated 500-1,500 gallons of raw sewage in a pond at the Ocean Shores Community Club two weeks ago.
"We don't have any direct suspects," Det. Russ Fitts said Monday. "We're still running information."
The sewage was dumped into the Community Club's "Alice Lake" sometime between May 29 and June 1, Fitts said.
The mess was discovered June 3 by sewer treatment employees, who were on site cleaning a draining culvert.
"They noticed an awful lot of smell and stench coming from the east end of the lake," Fitts said. "They had been there a few days earlier and things were fine."
The workers investigated and discovered the pond covered with raw sewage, including wastepaper products, according to Fitts.
The Department of Ecology analyzed samples from the sewage and determined it most likely came from portable toilets.
"It was from port-a-potties," Fitts said. "They found formaldehyde and raw chemicals which would be consistent with that."
A large septic tank truck was brought to the pond to clean up a majority of the sewage.
"We got most of it," Fitts said. "But for some, you just wait until foul weather and hope it will break up and decompose."
The pond - which isn't used much for swimming, Fitts said - has nonetheless been posted to make sure no one goes in there.
The pond drains into nearby Lake Minard and then feeds into the city's grand canals and then into the bay.
Police suspect that whoever dumped the waste parked at a nearby vacant lot and drove down a road.
"It's big news around here," Fitts said. "It's kind of a chicken way to dump something. It's a little bit different than what we usually handle."
Aside from felony charges, the dumper could also face fines from the Department of Ecology.
There is also a possibility that the Environmental Protection Agency may get involved with the case.
"Anytime it gets into waterways, they provide assistance," Fitts said.
The pond is located in an area where there are a lot of vacation houses and not a lot of people were around at the time of the dumping, Fitts said.
Still, Fitts hopes anyone with information on the case will contact him at 289-3331.