DEQ’s cleanup brigade collects 800 lbs of trash, finds illegal dumpsite

The Division of Environmental Quality’s monthly cleanup brigade collected an estimated 800 lbs of trash and discovered an illegal dumpsite at the beach near the Coral Ocean Point last Saturday.

After scouring the beachside for almost two hours, 60 volunteers, mostly students from Cha Cha Oceanview Junior High School, gathered all the trash and put them into a DEQ truck.

The cleanup brigade also found an illegal dumpsite that was recently opened at the east side portion of the beach.

DEQ spokesperson Reina Camacho told the Saipan Tribune after the cleanup operation that the collected trash would be brought to the dump transport station so they could sort the recyclable items.

Camacho said DEQ would also investigate to determine who is or are responsible for the illegal dumpsite.

DEQ has been organizing the monthly cleanup at the beaches by tapping various group of volunteers and individuals over the past few years. Last month, the operation was conducted at the Marine Beach in Kagman.

On Saturday, the volunteer organizations were from Cha Cha Oceanview Junior High School, The National Junior Honor Society, the Korean association, Near Generation Good, and the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance.

Also joining the cleanup were a few individuals and some DEQ staff and their family members.

Camacho said the beach near the Coral Ocean Point was actually adopted last week by Koblerville Elementary School.

“Basically what it means, they (Koblerville staff and students) cleaned here at the same spot. But we still have all this garbage and a lot of them are new. We found a lot of new garbage as well,” Camacho said.

The DEQ spokesperson said the usual trash that they see at beaches are aluminum cans—the soda cans, beer cans, water bottles or ice tea bottles.

“A lot of them are picnic items…things that you bring to the beach like the Styrofoam, take out plates, the six-pack rings,” she said.

“We’ve also seen today, some household items…pants, shirts, and we’ve seen some unsanitary items like used condoms, feminine fads and disposable diapers,” Camacho said.

Camacho warned the people who are dumping the trash that if they are caught littering at the beaches, they would be prosecuted and fined $250 or put behind bars.

“This is our island and we share our island with the marine environment as well… the fish, the corals. This is all for us to enjoy and if we protect our land here then we are also protecting our water our beach for all of us to enjoy not just for our tourists but for us residents who live here,” she said.

In a tourist-based economy like the CNMI, Camacho pointed out, protecting the islands and the beaches are the tasks for everybody.

“Not only for our livelihood and our enjoyment, but also to even help bring in more tourists,” she pointed out.

Kayla Deleon Guerrero, 14, of Cha Cha Oceanview Junior High School, said it was her first time to volunteer and that she likes it.

“It’s good exercise. It’s also good because it involves like we are helping out the community. It’s for a good cause,” Deleon Guerrero added.