Since clearing out the #Dakota Access Pipeline campsites, clean-up crews have disposed of more than 24,000 tons of garbage left by #activists.
A contractor hired by North Dakota’s Emergency Services Department is clearing away the #trash, waste (including human excretes), and abandoned debris from the Oceti Sakowin, Rosebud, and Sacred Stone campsites.
The cost to taxpayers: a whopping $1 million dollars.
North Dakota is keeping visitors updated on its NDResponse Facebook and YouTube pages, noting the site is “nearly complete.”
They also have videos of the trucks, crews, and bulldozers collecting and hauling away staggering amounts of rubbish.
Other videos show workers towing away abandoned vehicles, propane tanks, and trailers.
An environmental disaster
North Dakota is trying to remove the trash and debris before the rains begin, as the campsite sits on the floodplains.
If the waste isn’t cleared away, the leftover sludge and garbage would get carried away into nearby rivers, creating an environmental disaster. That has accelerated work crews to clean up the camps.
Items left behind include toxic chemicals and heavy oils that would spoil the watershed.
