Inmate Work Crew Helps Clean Up Needle Infested Trash Heap

Humboldt County inmate crews help clean up a homeless encampment Thursday.

Humboldt County inmate crews help clean up a homeless encampment Thursday. [Photos provided by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office]

Yesterday, inmates from the Humboldt County jail helped clean up a large trash heap located under a span of the Samoa Bridge on Indian Island.

According to a post by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, “[O]ur inmate work crew (Caltrans Crew) helped clean up a large homeless encampment located on Indian Island under the Christensen Memorial Bridge. The crew picked up over 1,300 pounds trash, finding a large amount of metal and hypodermic needles. The inmate work crew is a great opportunity for non-violent offenders to contribute to the bettering of the community while in custody.”

Caltrans said their crews were “cleaning up a camp that had been abandoned a month ago.” According to a post they made on social media, “Hypodermic needles were disposed of properly and recyclable materials were sorted out.”

Humboldt County inmate crews help clean up a homeless encampment Thursday.

Humboldt County inmate crews help clean up a homeless encampment Thursday. [Photo from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office]

Caltrans says, “If you would like to report roadside litter (or potholes or other maintenance issues) on state routes, you can use this form: https://csr.dot.ca.gov/”

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24 Comments
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Livin' Easy
Guest
Livin' Easy
5 years ago

Doesn’t California, and Humboldt County, have a law against littering??? People get a ticket for throwing a paper cup out their car window. This is the fault of our county and city officials, letting it get to this magnitude. Even inmates shouldn’t have to be exposed to all this and old needles. It had to have taken a long time for this much trash. Why wasn’t this addressed months, or a year, ago?? A great scene to attract tourists.

John
Guest
John
5 years ago
Reply to  Livin' Easy

That’s not only littering it’s illegal dumping,dumping near a protected waterway, improper disposal of hazardous waste, probably endangering an endangered species.there is many spots like this all over eureka maybe having a number that reports to swap,do away with the wood yard,and get this kind of stuff cleaned up faster.

Zzzz
Guest
Zzzz
5 years ago

Looks like cal trans just standing around and not hustling

Scooter
Guest
Scooter
5 years ago

That looks like a lot more than 1300 lbs of trash. More like 1300 tons.

Anon
Guest
Anon
5 years ago

Why dont the round up all the homeless and make them clean up their own mess!!!

Sharpen your pencil
Guest
Sharpen your pencil
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

They were all busy scurrying down to Betty for their meals, and re supply themselves with more trash to litter about…

Jonathan Dowe
Guest
Jonathan Dowe
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Yes!! and motivate the lazy, useless buggers with cattle prods!

Janice
Guest
Janice
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

That’s actually a great idea

Mobius Moggie
Guest
Mobius Moggie
5 years ago

That’s just disgusting. How much of that stuff leaks into the bay?

That sauce
Guest
That sauce
5 years ago
Reply to  Mobius Moggie

Right? Where’s the water board when you actually need them

Country bumpkin
Guest
Country bumpkin
5 years ago

I saw that “camp” while testing running an outboard motor that I had just repaired. It was disgusting in September of last year and I wondered how long it would take to get cleaned up. Forgot about it untill now. It’s ironic that duck hunters are not allowed anywhere on the island and if you tried to set up decoys and harvest your dinner you would be sited and fined within an hour, but you can shit and shoot up on it and leave it worse than the worst third world slum imaginable and nothing happens until it’s abandoned leaving the filthy Hazzard for others to clean up.

Bill
Guest
Bill
5 years ago

Absolutely spot on Country bumpkin….very true, the Department of Fish and Wildlife would fine you, give you notice to appear perhaps, or possibly impound your gear if caught doing this on the Island. But…..they will not enforce the same laws on these people!!

local woman
Guest
local woman
5 years ago

The homeless are such an asset, stop feeding the strays…..

Ernestine
Guest
Ernestine
5 years ago
Reply to  local woman

Thanks to the cons! No one else was lifting a finger. Even the people who show so much outrage just said “ewww” and went away.

Helllbilly
Guest
Helllbilly
5 years ago

LMAO. Do you know how much used needles are worth in jail and prison?! These inmates were farming gold.

Emma Kitt
Guest
Emma Kitt
5 years ago

Thank you.

Mark
Guest
Mark
5 years ago

It’s the end times….humans gone in the next 200 years

Tall Trees
Guest
Tall Trees
5 years ago

Thanks to those who did the dirty work.

dad
Guest
dad
5 years ago

Yeah, let’s have some more kiosks for needles. This is not a safe environment for residents. This needle give away/kiosk return is a joke. Again, it is not safe for children or adults and should be stopped.

Taurus Ballzhoff
Guest
Taurus Ballzhoff
5 years ago

As far as I know, needles can be a contaminant, a hazard, and a trash pile can contain needles, or be considered to be potentially infectious, but needles cannot “infest” anything.

Humbolt County can be infested by drug addicts, however! Nice what the drug thing did for everyone, and now it is leaving us to clean up the mess and deal with the wreckage of druggie humanity…

The way we deal with the house-less is called co-dependency.

Everyone in Northern CA needs to go to an Al-Anon meeting!

Please make a note of it.

Correct, but not politically correct
Guest
Correct, but not politically correct
5 years ago

The outrageous “needle exchange” program has got to be reigned in. The current operators are grossly negligent and are not running a true needle exchange program. They should be stopped from operating until a new responsible organization can insure that they are not putting ordinary non-addict citizens in danger.

The so-called “Humboldt Harm Reduction” outfit is the source of the massive number of contaminated needles everywhere. They should be shut down and a new more responsible group given the resources that they had been wasting.

avenuerider
Guest
5 years ago

Looks just like a third world country.Instead of taking care of our American citizens and vets we want to protect people who come here illegally and suck up all our jobs and our welfare that we have to pay for.

groba dude osnt trustafarian
Guest
groba dude osnt trustafarian
5 years ago
Reply to  avenuerider

Thanks Archie Bunker! Actually, American Citizens are fucking lazy as hell, and those jobs no citizen will take, I mean working in a care home or hospital, working on a farm, pruning all those grapevines, trimming all that bud, making all those potato chips, and on and on, it takes an employer hiring an H1B visa Phillipino, sent by an American recruiting company, to take those jobs.

If you won’t work for the wage, someone will, so shut the fuck up. Those foreigners did not create the situation. Wealthy and lazy Americans did.

Dc
Guest
Dc
5 years ago

Way to go inmates!!! Thanks for cleaning up the mess. The people who left it should be held responsible. I just wanted to say Thank You for your community service.