Debris gathered filled a dumpster and two dump trucks
Gilroy – Strange things turn up in Gilroy’s creek beds: Car doors. Hypodermic needles. Mattresses. A dead turtle.
Twelve Department of Corrections workers plucked debris from the Upper Miller Slough Wednesday, finishing a two-day creek cleanup that began behind the Krazy Koyote Bar and Grill. The workers were low-risk inmates, performing community service hours rather than prison time. Three Gilroy police officers and a California Department of Corrections officer supervised the workers as they combed the creek bed, turning up a motley assortment of items.
Homeless people discard some belongings and trash in the creek, said officer Angela Locke-Paddon, but rubber tires and oil filters are probably being dumped by outsiders – not dragged in by transients. Tuesday alone, crews filled a 40-foot dumpster and two dump trucks with garbage collected that day.
Neighbors began grousing about junk and trash accumulating in the creek two months ago, but the cleanup couldn’t be coordinated until this week, Locke-Paddon explained.
“At first, I called the water district, and asked them to clean it up,” she recalled. “But then they told me – it’s not ours, it’s yours!”
The creek belongs to the city of Gilroy, unlike most area waterways, which are managed by the water district. Locke-Paddon contacted the Department of Corrections and the city to plan a joint cleanup. But scheduling workers can be tricky: every fall, corrections workers are in high demand as California cities try to beat the winter rains. Trash plus rain makes for messy waterways.
“It gets pretty bad down here,” said Willie Wood, owner of Speedee Oil Change and Tune-Up on Monterey Road. Wednesday, he watched from near the railroad tracks as the workers labored in the creek below. “There’s a lot of people living under the bridge, too.”
Police gave homeless people 72 hours to remove their belongings, Locke-Paddon said.
Gilroy aims to become a satellite site for corrections workers, Locke-Paddon added. To do so, officers need some additional training so they can supervise the crews without staff from the Department of Corrections. It’s a good way to keep Gilroy’s creeks squeaky-clean, Locke-Paddon said.
“All we bring is a Port-a-Potty and water,” she added. “They even bring their own lunch.”
