Palmer Hay Flats fans fume over oily mess

PALMER — Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are seeking information on the culprit who left a significant amount of used motor oil on the ground near Cottonwood Creek in the popular game refuge last month.

Dan and Marian Elliott discovered the 20-by-30-foot oily mess Jan. 19 during an icy hike toward the inlet.

“When we got to the bottom of the hill where the lower parking lot was, there was a big, obvious black dump of oil there, as if someone had changed the oil of their car,” Marian Elliott said Thursday. “And somebody actually went to the trouble of trying to spread it out. They also left some kitty litter and an empty kitty litter bag from when they were struggling to make it back up the hill. Boy, I wish they had gotten stuck.”

A couple of days later, APH board member Dave Hopper and Department of Fish and Game Refuge Manager Doug Hill used absorbent towels and a weed burner to clean up most of the oil, according to Randi Perlman, executive director of Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats.

“Many people are likely to be out enjoying the refuge over the next few weeks,” Perlman said in anticipation of Saturday’s Winter Family Fun Day at Reflections Lake. “Alaska Department of Fish and Game and APH helped ensure they won’t have to look at, drive through, or walk in the mess left behind by a few thoughtless individuals.”

As founding members of APH in 2005, the Elliotts and many others living near the refuge at Mile 30.6 of the Glenn Highway have worked tirelessly over the years to clean up the area and improve access for hikers, birders, skiers, sportsmen and other recreational users.

It all started in 2004 when a Cottonwood Creek resident got fed up with the refuge parking lot being used as a trash dump. After signs pleading for neighbors to help clean it up were posted, several folks collected enough garbage to fill two industrial-sized Dumpsters, Elliott said.

The difference between then and now is like night and day, Elliott said. That makes the recent transgression all that more frustrating.

“It was kind of shocking because we hoped we were done with that sort of disrespectful behavior,” Elliott said. “Thank goodness they were able to clean it up enough to keep it from getting into the salmon stream. We’ve really tried hard to protect the area so that families can fish there.”

Perlman said she hopes someone will come forward to either admit to leaving the mess or report the person who did so that “the few uncaring individuals don’t spoil the beauty and wonder of the Refuge for the majority of caring, responsible users.”

Call Perlman at 357-8711 or visit www.alaskansforpalmerhayflats.org.

See related story about Winter Family Fun Day in today’s Outdoors section, page B2.

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.