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Bear in mind: fish waste bin to operate on limited schedule this summer

Franzi Ross

In previous years, the Dillingham landfill has had a bear problem at the fish waste bin. To keep that activity to a minimum, disposal hours will be restricted for the second summer in a row.

 

 

 

 

Update: June 5, 2019

 

The fish waste bin hours reported in the original article will be more restricted this year. This is because there were no applicants to the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation intern positions that have allowed the landfill to keep the fish bin open for extended hours in the past. The bin will be open Friday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

 

Original article: June 4, 2019

This summer marks the second year that the Dillingham landfill's fish waste bin will operate on restricted hours for fish waste disposal.

 

Paul Liedburg, chairman of the Friends of the Dillingham Landfill, hopes residents will step up again to keep bear activity around the bin to a minimum.

 

“There's lots of people that talk about the how scary it was to dump their fish waste when they could basically smell bears around there," he said. "Every time I would go out there to dump my fish waste you could see the bear trails just feet away from the container heading back into the brush and you didn't know if that bear was a mile away or a hundred feet away.”

 

In previous years the bin was located outside the landfill and open 24 hours a day. While that allowed residents more flexibility when disposing their fish waste, it also attracted bears. The rash of activity prompted the city and volunteers to come together and more tightly regulate disposal hours. Liedburg said not a single bear got into the bin in 2018. That community effort inspired a group of residents to form the city's landfill committee this February.

The fish waste bin is located across the road from the landfill office and surrounded by an electric fence. The fence will be turned off during open hours. It will be turned on when the bin is closed to waste disposal.

The bin will be open Friday through Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Wednesday and Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

 

If you would like to get involved with the Friends of the Landfill, you can contact the Dillingham city clerk at 907-842-5212.

Contact the author at sage@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.

 

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