Overloaded houseboat burying human waste in the sand

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Certainly the Captain of the HB should face severe fines as it is his responsibility for ALL actions of passenger and crew. At the least, he or she should be required to participate in clean up personally and then to be banned permanently from the Lake. In fact, permanent ban should be in the list of other violations such as DUI on the lake. Accident due to improper operations of the craft that result in injury or death would be another. But a good start would be poop violations. Cleaning up after dogs by their owners is standard courtesy that extends to Lake Powell. But, I've personally witnessed and stepped in many times when that courtesy is not followed. I suppose the next thing to happen may well be similar to the Southern Utah parks that are considering reservations to visit, or even lottery for visits during peak times of the year. A mandatory limit on foreign national tour buses would be a good idea too for those peak times. Oh well, people will continue to be pigs. My dad taught me all about leaving no trace of my presence when on public lands. But, that was back in the 50's.
 
Aramark has had a pass for years, Zinke needs to tell them that they must do what they are contracted to do, or they are fired! Downside, no ice cream or gas, or service at DR. No pumpouts at the marinas, etc. Upside, Aramark is making a huge profit from powell, and will probably do their job if they are threatened with the cancellation of their contract!
 
Colorado,

As of a week ago, the signs are still up on the beach saying that it is closed. It does not appear that anything has been done to clean up the mess - it looks to be in the same condition as the day it was reported. On that day back in June, the ranger implied that they were already working on how best to clean it up, and stated that is was the largest human waste dump he'd ever personally seen on the lake; several weeks later I was told that the perpetrator would possibly be the one cleaning it up under NPS supervision; now, two months later and nothing has been done - hundreds of poops and dirty toilet paper disintegrating through the sand via the monsoon rains and seeping into the lake water. Delightful to think about! Maybe NPS is too busy keeping spiders from being inhumanely fed to the carp at Dangling Rope to deal with this much less important issue?

Personally, the lack of expedient NPS response to this cleanup will make me think twice before worrying about reporting such indiscretions in the future, unfortunately.

From a legal perspective, I hope that NPS is still pursuing the perpetrators vigorously and I look forward to appearing in court to report what I saw them do. I've heard nothing on this end either, although I would expect legal proceedings to take much longer to come to fruition than the actual cleanup of the beach!

Since this incident received so much media attention when it happened, it would be nice if the media outlets would follow-up as to why the clean-up still has not been done. My guess is NPS responds to media inquiries with a better attitude than they respond to individuals.

-Doug
 
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The media does love an exposé whenever it doesn't expose them, their chosen side or their crass hypocrisy when lecturing the unwashed masses on what to think and believe.

Perhaps a call or email to KSL or the like letting them know that their 'BIG' story about this has been filed directly into the 'round file' and has gone exactly nowhere.

They do seem to bristle at the thought of anyone ignoring them. Just ask Jim Acosta. Perhaps that would be the inspiration for a reporter or editor to act further down here on a more local level.

Mention all that white toilet paper and say it is a terrible example of "white privilege." That'll get 'em goin'

FWIW,
Goblin
 
I corresponded with the GCNRA Public Affairs officer about a week ago on this and the drilling issue. She told me at that time that the human waste case was still "open" and therefore she couldn't share any details with me.

I think it was through my efforts that this hit the news waves, all those the stations I called and emailed did a story although KSL was late to the game. But getting them to do a follow up is like pulling teeth.

GRRRR!!

I'm going to call "Get Gephardt" (Northern Utahns will know what that is).
 
Just heard of another story like this up on the North end of the lake. I sure hope these kind of things can be investigated and people be held accountable.
 
Docker said:
Just heard of another story like this up on the North end of the lake. I sure hope these kind of things can be investigated and people be held accountable.
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Any details? Kind of a large bomb to drop without anything more!

GregC
 
I don't recall what canyon it was in, but she took pictures and had a boat name. I suggested she call the NPS non-emergency line.
 
Any status updates on this? I imagine most of the waste has now washed into the lake with the monsoon season?
 
Dale said:
Aramark has had a pass for years, Zinke needs to tell them that they must do what they are contracted to do, or they are fired! Downside, no ice cream or gas, or service at DR. No pumpouts at the marinas, etc. Upside, Aramark is making a huge profit from powell, and will probably do their job if they are threatened with the cancellation of their contract!
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I am certainly not an aramark fan, especially after working for them for over 10 years but I must say that they are strictly regulated by nps and although they may make money on the houseboat rentals etc. etc. etc. they are scared to death of being caught at any violation of their contract, and in fact they appear to go beyond the requirements to keep from being smeared. I put more weight on nps because they have somehow seemed to let aramark know what infractions will be tolerated (remember the electrocutions ?) and what is absolutely not allowed. Please don't read this as a pass for aramark from me because i KNOW they will take what they can get. The crappy quality of the houseboats, the inadequate instruction for boat use, and of course walking the razors edge on compliance with many nps requirements.. It is nps that allows it. Any business will find the line. Again, I almost hate that I am seemingly defending aramark. What I am really doing is condemning nps. BTW I don't see anyone stepping up to outbid aramark.. Coincidence or does nps want aramark for some reason. We all know what that reason could be....$$$$$.
 
Our friends stayed in the RV park at Bullfrog this week. I was embarrassed and ashamed for recommending it. What a miserable neglected disaster it was.
And, as we walked up to the ice cream window at Halls yesterday at 4:55 to get our daily dose of vitamin I, ice cream, the window was closed and the people behind it told us that they closed at 5, which had not arrived yet. Not the best business model to drive away customers because some unsupervised minimum wage people wanted to leave early.
 
birdsnest said:
I am certainly not an aramark fan, especially after working for them for over 10 years but I must say that they are strictly regulated by nps and although they may make money on the houseboat rentals etc. etc. etc. they are scared to death of being caught at any violation of their contract, and in fact they appear to go beyond the requirements to keep from being smeared. I put more weight on nps because they have somehow seemed to let aramark know what infractions will be tolerated (remember the electrocutions ?) and what is absolutely not allowed. Please don't read this as a pass for aramark from me because i KNOW they will take what they can get. The crappy quality of the houseboats, the inadequate instruction for boat use, and of course walking the razors edge on compliance with many nps requirements.. It is nps that allows it. Any business will find the line. Again, I almost hate that I am seemingly defending aramark. What I am really doing is condemning nps. BTW I don't see anyone stepping up to outbid aramark.. Coincidence or does nps want aramark for some reason. We all know what that reason could be....$$$$$.
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I would agree with this assessment, one step further..........the grass isn't greener with another concessionaire. They are all into to make money, and by doing so they walk that fine line. But one thing that doesn't cost much is attitude and customer service...................which fixes most of the issues.

For years I was a vendor selling Aramark and DNPS Grand Canyon, they pay lousy and hire people in management that aren't really qualified. Another concessionaire will not fix this, trust me
 
Cookie said:
I would agree with this assessment, one step further..........the grass isn't greener with another concessionaire. They are all into to make money, and by doing so they walk that fine line. But one thing that doesn't cost much is attitude and customer service...................which fixes most of the issues.

For years I was a vendor selling Aramark and DNPS Grand Canyon, they pay lousy and hire people in management that aren't really qualified. Another concessionaire will not fix this, trust me
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Sadly this is the case all over. The woman who was in charge of cyber security at Equifax has a degree in music appreciation. She has no credentials in anything related to securing the information of 350 million American's personal information.
 
Pegasus said:
As the "thread starter" and witness to this, I've still heard nothing about a court date or anything else. I hope Gem Morris hears back from the GCNRA PR person with a definitive answer.
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I don't think we should let NPS push it under the rug, as winter comes on I fear that could happen...... plus I cringe to think how much of this has washed into the lake with monsoon season.
 
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