OJAI : Camp Volunteers Clear Hillside Trash

Two “No Dumping” signs placed along Santa Ana Road in the Ojai Valley have come and gone since a group of teen-age campers hauled six tons of trash from a nearby illegal roadside dump last summer.

This summer, the debris is back and so are the teen-agers.

On Friday, 56 teen-agers from Camp Ramah removed dumpsters of trash from a steep hill, playing tug-of-war with rusty abandoned cars, mattresses, wicker chairs, couches, car batteries and motor oil containers. This is the second year of a cleanup campaign by students at Camp Ramah, a Jewish summer camp in Ojai that draws 1,200 youngsters from across the country.

“I think it’s so amazing that we’re doing it, that we’re not just reading about other people doing it,” said Lucy Rimalower, 13, of Sherman Oaks.

Recruited as volunteers by the California Environmental Project, a small nonprofit group dedicated to cleaning up the wilderness area, the campers cleared the site and replaced the “No Dumping” signs that twice have been torn down and once moved down the road.

The California Environmental Project hopes to build a dirt berm along the roadside to stop people from tossing their junk there in the future, said Executive Director Scott Mathes. “It certainly does make me angry, but I’m used to dealing with primitive mentalities in this business,” Mathes said, noting that the sign had been moved down the road, away from what has become a popular illegal dumping site.

Mathes said he expects the group will have removed 10 tons of junk from the Santa Ana Road site in two or three days before moving on to Wheeler Gorge in Los Padres National Forest.

Mathes, who has dedicated much of his life to cleaning up wilderness areas in California, said items such as dishwashers and refrigerators contain toxic chemicals that can seep into the ground water and poison the ecosystem.

The camp volunteers chose trash cleanup over activities such as surfing, fine arts, drama and sailing.

About 30 of the teen-agers, wearing thick gloves, pulled on a rope with all their might to haul a dusty-blue Fiat to the top of the hill and into a rubbish container. About 75% of the debris will be recycled, Mathes said.