Vancouver resident Peter Bracchi says that for the last eight years pollution has traveled from illegal camps along Burnt Bridge Creek and Cold Creek into Vancouver Lake

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

The recent Clark County Today exposé makes it clear that the city of Vancouver’s approach to homeless camps along Burnt Bridge Creek is a revolving door of eviction and relocation. For the last eight years pollution has traveled from illegal camps along Burnt Bridge Creek and Cold Creek into Vancouver Lake.

The city has even omitted documenting the pollution problems from city camps in its recent Storm Water Management Plan Update.

The city of Vancouver has permission from the Department of Ecology to use Burnt Bridge Creek to flow storm water into Lake Vancouver.

Meanwhile, all that human waste, trash, and biohazards,  PFAS and Potentially Harmful material left behind seeps into the creeks and flows downstream into Vancouver Lake.

If Mayor McEnerny-Ogle does not take decisive action now, we risk turning Vancouver Lake into “Lake Vancesspool.” Here’s why:

• Unchecked Pollution: Raw sewage, syringes, and PFAS-laden debris from the camps flush into the storm drains and into Burnt Bridge Creek, which feeds directly into the lake. 
• Public Health Hazard: Biohazard teams are called in after each sweep to remove needles and contaminated waste. Material buried and missed can wash downstream, contaminating the Lake, River, fish, wildlife, and our drinking-water sources.
• Failed Strategy: Not enforcing laws over the years and now Shifting camps back and forth does nothing to help our homeless neighbors but everything to harm our environment. Without enforcement of laws and no permanent solutions, the cycle—and the pollution—will continue indefinitely and we will get Lake Vancesspool if it is NOT already there.

Action Needed:

1. Close or Relocate Camps: End the back-and-forth evictions and move camps out of our creek’s watershed into facilities with proper sanitation.
2. Protect Our Waters: Install portable restrooms tied to sewer lines at any remaining temporary sites and enforce strict buffer zones along the creek and at the Men’s Sharehouse.

Call or Email Mayor McEnerny-Ogle and reqeust she choose between facing the real human challenge of homelessness or watching Lake Vancouver degenerate into a cesspool. 

Our community deserves both compassion for its most vulnerable and protection for its precious natural resources.

Peter Bracchi
Vancouver

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