August Update on the bathrooms at Orcas Park After months of public protest, the city finally fixed the bathrooms and removed the portable toilets described below. June 3, 2003 - Health Hazards Caused by Ongoing Recreation & Parks Bathroom Facility Problems in Hansen Dam The lack of facilities at the lower soccerfields has already been discussed (see Daily News "What's Going On at Hansen Dam?" published 2/23/03) but it remains an ongoing problem despite Recreation & Parks assurances back in February that portable toilets would soon be provided at the lower fields. It is June and there are still no toilets, so each weekend hundreds of people are continuing to defecate in the reeds surrounding the lower lake. Now we have another toilet problem to report, this time at Gabrieleno (Orcas) Park. The permanent bathrooms there haven't worked for many months, and Recreation & Parks says they don't have the resources to fix them. So portable toilets were provided -- but not maintained. In early May, local resident Dennis Kroeplin reported that the portable toilets were so overly full and filthy that he could not use them. On May 18, there was an equestrian event featuring some 70 competitors (all children, many of them handicapped) from as far away as the Bay Area. The excrement level in the portable toilets was ALL THE WAY UP TO THE SEATS -- it was impossible to sit without coming in contact with the foul contents. There were feces and urine on all the floors. There was no toilet paper. Imagine how upset the parents were, after driving for hundreds of miles, hauling horses, to see the kind of facilities they and their handicapped children were expected to use. The commonly expressed sentiment was "We will never attend an event here again." Can you blame them...? After numerous citizen complaints, Recreation and Parks finally had the porta-potties cleaned -- last week. The permanent bathrooms are still out of order. Right -- photos of Gabrieleno (Orcas) Park, Hansen Dam. CLICK photos to enlarge. | 
