FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - It's been a peaceful three day weekend at Dash Point State Park. Now campers are rustling up the kids, packing up their tents and campers and also hauling away three days worth of waste.
"Apparently there's no dump station here anymore and there's no hookup station for trailers or RV's," says Josh Marks, who's visiting here from Portland.
It's been nearly 6 years since visitors like Marks have been able to dump waste. Rangers tell us the 400 acre parks antiquated sewer system just can't handle the popularity of the park. After years of flooding problems, the state decided a major overhaul was in order.
During the next 8 months, a brand new sewer system will be installed, with a price tag of $3.4 million and nearly 300 trees will be cut down to make way for the new system, spanning from the beach through the campsite.
Avid Bothell camper Jeff Eichner and his family are happy to see the improvements. He recently gave money to a fund specifically geared towards these types of projects.
"Since we use the parks all the time that made us real happy," he said.
This effort is not only for convenience, it's also environmental. There's fear the runoff of waste would make its way to the Puget Sound.
Eichner says a little inconvenience is worth it. He looks forward to coming back next spring.
"This is 45 minutes from home and it feels like it's much farther way. It's great," he said.
The Dash Point beach will also be closed, but some day hike trails will stay open. The money for this project has been allocated from the state's capital budget.
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