Abandoned Vehicle and Scrap Metal Project
The Copper Valley Development Association (CVDA) has completed their Abandoned Vehicle and Metal Removal Project, which focused on watershed protection and reached far and wide throughout the greater Copper Valley. Vehicles were collected from McCarthy to Slana and Nelchina. Major project funding was from the Environmental Protection Agency and State of Alaska. Other contributors were the Native Village of Chitina, Kenny Lake Soil and Water Conservation District, Bureau of Land Management and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Local Tribal governments, Ahtna, Inc., several businesses and local landowners also contributed towards the project.
CVDA coordinated overall project logistics and managed the many financial and in-kind donations brought to the project. As a regional non-profit organization dedicated to improvement of life and economic development issues in the region, CVDA has support from the State of Alaska and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Since 2006, 1,175 vehicles, along with 234 tons scrap metal were removed, cleaning up both public and private lands. Associated waste included 3,500 tires, 153 cubic yards of trash along with an estimated 2,180 gallons of used oil and 270 gallons of antifreeze. Use the link below to see what items were removed from your community.
In conjunction with vehicle removal was the collection of refrigerators and lead-acid batteries. Three years of Refrigerator Round-Ups at the Copper Basin Sanitation Service Company landfill, McCarthy and Chitina collected 500 refrigerators for certification and recycling. As an outcome of these round-ups, local technicians have been trained to remove and recycle CFC’s, preventing ozone deterioration.
Lead-acid batteries were collected throughout the project, beginning in the fall of 2003 when 140 batteries stockpiled at McCarthy’s “Boneyard” were removed. Over the course of 5 years, at least 1,400 batteries were brought in for recycling. An outcome of the project is the FREE year-round drop-off of car batteries at our local landfill.
