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Fall clean-up collects more than 100,000 lbs of trash at Fort Cavazos

By Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW EnvironmentalJanuary 23, 2024

Soldiers throw trash found in their footprint into one of the trash dumpsters at the drop off site during the installation-wide fall clean-up Dec. 6, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW Environmental)
Soldiers throw trash found in their footprint into one of the trash dumpsters at the drop off site during the installation-wide fall clean-up Dec. 6, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Christine Luciano, Fort Cavazos DPW Environmental) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Fort Cavazos units, the Directorate of Public Works, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, Directorate of Emergency Services and the Defense Logistics Agency came together to support the installation-wide fall clean-up Dec. 4-8, 2023.

The biannual clean-up event takes place every spring and fall and is an opportunity to remove litter and debris within cantonment and training areas.

“This fall, we had more than 200 points of illegal dumping sites throughout the 50 training areas,” Jim Imhoff, engineering technician, DPW Operations and Maintenance Division, said. “Soldiers collected everything from swimming pools, couches, refrigerators and animal carcasses to concertina wire and roof shingles.

Garrison leadership spearheaded the clean-up process with more than 250 Soldiers tasked, predetermining the sites from the spring clean-up and observations from the game wardens and Range Operations personnel. Each unit was tasked with a specific area and once their footprint was cleaned up, units would extend their assistance to others.

“It’s a collective effort to make the fall clean-up a success,” Imhoff said. “We each have a role in being good stewards of the environment, and helping to sustain military readiness for safe unit training.”

Throughout the day, vehicles headed to the drop off site to unload items into collection containers for trash, metal and concertina wire and designated areas for hazardous materials and items for the Defense Logistics Agency.

By the end of the week, Soldiers collected 84,580 pounds of trash, 23,300 pounds of scrap metal, 7,800 pounds of concertina wire and 335 tires.

Citations for criminal trespassing and illegal dumping or theft of services can easily add up to a monetary fine and lead to the possibility of an arrest.

If you observe an individual illegal dumping, get a description of the individual, what items or materials were dumped, location of the incident and a description of the vehicle and license plate number, and report the situation to DES at 254-288-1062.