(Ethete, WY) – The Northern Arapaho Business Council has announced that the Tribe has begun a cleanup of the Ethete Transfer Station as a part of a partnership with Arapaho First, and is in the process of assuming ongoing control of the facility, according to a press release issued on October 4.
The Tribe has also scheduled community cleanup days this upcoming Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 7/8) as “an opportunity for local residents to help collect garbage that has blown into the sagebrush surrounding the transfer station.”
Protective gloves and garbage bags will be provided to volunteers, along with snacks and water.
The release states that the cleanup is “necessary to restore the transfer station, which in recent years accumulated large amounts of garbage and other solid waste.”
“Neglect of the facility created a community eyesore and public health hazard for Ethete-area residents of the Wind River Reservation,” the statement continues.
“The Ethete Transfer Station has been in an unacceptable condition for too long,” said Keenan Groesbeck, Co-Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council. “The Arapaho people are taking control of this situation, cleaning up the facility and managing it going forward so that it meets the needs of our community.”
The release goes on to state that restoration of the Transfer Station will hopefully “reduce illegal dumping on the Wind River Reservation.”
“Illicit dump sites have reached crisis levels, desecrating Tribal land and requiring costly and repeated cleanup efforts.”
“Restoration of the Ethete Transfer Station and putting it under Northern Arapaho management will make a positive difference for local residents,” said Shawn Brown, Northern Arapaho Solid Waste Manager. “This is a big project, and we look forward to having some help from community volunteers.”
The Transfer Station is temporarily closed while cleanup operations continue, the statement concludes, but is expected to re-open “by the end of the month,” and will utilize a “private contractor with heavy equipment and a dumpster to remove larger, bulky items as part of the remediation effort.”