Valley trashed and not happy about it

To the editor:

So, I used to be offended by the term “Valley trash,” but not anymore, I’m so disgusted by the few people who make that name fit.

I own land in Wasilla — raw land, but it’s in a subdivision. I recently went there (as I occasionally do when I have time) and because I’d like to put a place on it this fall, and when I got there I wanted to cry. My land and the cul-de-sac leading to it was covered in trash — fridge, freezer, couches, broken glass everywhere and other trash, along with a huge pile of what looks like kitchen/household trash.

I’m a single mother and work for Forestry in the summers, so I’m away a lot — up to 21 days at a time in a busy season, with one-day off. To come home from a fire assignment and to find this “dump” breaks my heart.

I contacted the Mat-Su Borough to see if it can help or if there’s anything I can do. They told me I could file a complaint, but without video of someone physically dumping, it’d be hard to prove in court. I asked if I found a name in mail mixed with the trash, could I do anything? The said they’d talk to the person then, but again, in court it’d be hard to prove without video proof. The borough won’t/can’t clean it up.

So all I can do is go clean it up myself and pay to dump it — what the person who dumped it on my land should’ve done. But what’s stopping them from doing it again?

I thought littering was illegal with a fine involved? The borough can’t/won’t do anything. How is this OK?

These people obviously don’t care about others or the environment (there’s a lake/pond nearby) and this will only attract wild animals. Why not try to improve the Valley rather than just prove its nickname?

I don’t know what to do about this other than keep cleaning it on weekends and after work when I’m not gone on a fire assignment, paying to take it to the dump. I’ll keep sorting through to find their names and hopefully the borough’s “talk” with the person/people will stop them, though I doubt it.

I’ll be putting up game cameras to hopefully catch them on video. I wish there was something that could be done.

Anyways just thought I’d get the word out.

Jessica Bly

Wasilla