Here’s a wider look at one area where trash was found, on the east side of the building, :

Once documented, it was time for action. The observer tried contacting someone in person, but was given a name, number and e-mail address for an office manager who finally was reached by phone the next day. After hearing about the problem, the observer says, the office manager said it was the problem of Prium Development Company, which owns the building, and is headquartered in Tacoma. Somebody in the building should be telling them about it, the observer insisted, and was told those in the building weren’t happy about it either, but that they expected the company to be sending a cleaning crew that day.

“Partial cleanup” ensued, according to our source. But not the dock area. If you’re thinking, well, so what, it’s just trash – as our source notes, it wasn’t just stray bits of paper. Examples of what was found:

So, the observer called the office manager again. Got only voice mail. Same thing the next morning, when our source tried yet again. No callback, so the next call was to the building owner. Our source was directed eventually to voice mail for a “facilities manager.” No callback. Eventually, contact was made. The onsite manager, our source says, continued to contend that it was the building owner’s responsibility, and that they’d been making requests too. However it played out, finally, after persistence from our tipster, the area got cleaned up:

Still tagged (we’ve blurred the tags as per our policy), but as our tipster puts it, “the public health menace is gone.” Will it stay gone? We’ll check back. We suspect the observer will too. If there’s something you’re concerned about, one message here is, don’t give up after one complaint, if action doesn’t immediately ensue. And find out who’s ultimately responsible. One helpful tool: Property ownership can be determined through the King County Parcel Viewer – you’ll find it here; have the exact address handy (or if you don’t know, trace it through the nearest intersection).

This house is located at the intersection of Delridge and 16th Avenue SW.  The house burnt down in December of 2007.   Sometime thereafter, some vagrants started using the basement as their home and so the owner boarded up the windows.  Word is that the house was to be torn down and a mixed use residential-commercial project was to take its place.   Nothing good has happened since.

As you can see from the attached pictures the place is a complete nuisance.  No steps have been taken to mitigate the damage caused by the fire and the subsequent abandonment.  The grass and weeds are overgrown.  The charred appliances and furniture are still lying outside where they were dumped by the fire department.  And the place is conspicuous to just about everyone visiting the White Center commercial area.  Clearly, the owner does not care what kind of a nuisance this creates for the community.  Anybody got some ideas on how to get this negligent owner to clean up his mess?

The official county news release:

Those caught illegally dumping onto property in unincorporated and rural King County will now help pay for the damage they caused, as the Metropolitan King County Council today unanimously adopted legislation to hold violators financially responsible.

“Illegal dumping occurs all over King County and especially in the rural areas of my district,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn, sponsor of the ordinance. “King County has a responsibility to help protect our families, our property and our environment. As a resident of rural King County, I see the evidence of illegal dumping almost every day. This law will make people think twice before they dump garbage on the side of the road.”

Dunn said the County now spends up to $2 million a year to clean up the results of illegal dumping, with reports numbering in the hundreds. However, he said actual numbers may be much higher due to the low percentage of sites actually reported.

Under the ordinance adopted today, anyone convicted of illegal dumping will be charged a $100 fine and a restitution fee of twice the cost of cleanup or $100 per cubic foot, whichever is greater. Half of the money collected from the restitution fee will go to the landowner who was victimized by the illegal dumping.

“Illegal dumping is a serious problem for public health and safety,” Dunn said. “It’s also a significant source of environmental damage. We will now have new tools for catching those who would put our citizens at risk.”

The ordinance also gives multiple County agencies the ability to enforce illegal dumping laws. Previously, all incidents had to go through the standard law enforcement process, which caused most cases to be dropped or not pursued. King County has hundreds of maintenance workers and other employees on the ground who can now help enforce the law, dramatically increasing the number of people on the lookout for illegal dumpers.

Today’s ordinance is the first in a two-step process headed by Councilmember Dunn to curtail illegal dumping. Working with County Executive Ron Sims, Dunn introduced an ordinance that will allow landowners who are the victims of illegal dumping to get a waiver for the fee of disposing the trash at a county landfill, in cases where the identity of the dumper cannot be determined.

tonight is the Official openign for the Dluks Crew art show hanging at Full Tilt.
myspace. com/DLUKS3CREW

The party begins at 8pm with an acoustic performance by sickeversence. The Dluks Crew is an all female artists collective, and they are looking for memebers. Here is the email they are sending out.

We are looking for Members to join our new group,

Here is information on us and what we do:

We are the Dluks Crew (all female) based out of Seattle,WA

myspace. com/dluks3crew (add us on your myspace!)

(There are not many all girl “crews” in the world so here we are…
we are currently seeking members so if your a female writer,urban photographer
or painter and
would like to join our actual crew,
contact us and we’ll let you know the details!)

We are available for:
• Artwork/graphic design for Clothing
• Custom artwork
• Illustrated logos
• Editorial illustration for print media
• Advertising illustration
• Book jackets
• CD art
• Poster illustration
• Murals / Public art Guerilla Art Marketing

Check out our main founders photos and websites to see our work!