On March 30, 1993 participants from Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah, California and Washington were welcomed by Superintendent William Briggle, who challenged us to use this meeting as the first step of a strategic plan. He asked us to consider the problem as part of the Vail Agenda, to serve the public while protecting the resources. After orientation, the 51 participants all introduced themselves and had the opportunity to give presentations on their questions, problems, and experiences. Presentations ranged from a few sentences to well-prepared reports with slide shows. Groups represented were rangers, maintenance workers, resource managers, manufacturers, designers, public health professionals, researchers, and administrators. A list of participants is attached. Also on March 30 we had presentations from Romtec toilets, Advanced Composting Systems (Phoenix), Clivus Multrum, and OSU researcher Pete Nelson, who has studied pit toilets at Mt. Rainer.
Most of the topics discussed on the first day were repeated on the second day, when six panel discussions gave us the opportunity to look into the finer points.
PANEL: RESOURCE AND HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
The topic of the first panel, chaired by Ruth Scott of Olympic NP was "Resource and Health Considerations". Ruth reviewed regulations relating to environmental protection. We discussed tradeoffs between 1) size of structures in backcountry or wilderness, 2) hazards and intrusion of helicopters, and 3) limiting access to an area. It was obvious that different agencies and parks have approached these options differently. One statement was a plea not to tie our hands with "minimum tool" demands when technology can solve the waste problem. Another suggestion was to consider total pack-out, since human waste was generally agreed to be the most serious impact on the backcountry.
As part of the first panel John Collins and Phil Pollard, of the USPHS, talked about health concerns of workers. They gave us the somewhat surprising news that neither the USPHS, the NPS, OSHA, or the new blood born pathogens rule have ever recommended hepatitis immunizations for workers who handle human waste. The only needed shot is for tetanus, which everyone should have anyway. Emphasis should be on protective barriers of gloves, coveralls, boots, etc.. We talked about the possibility of being able to apply composted material in the backcountry, and no one was confident enough in their composting system to recommend this, at least in public. The USPHS is in the process of adding to NPS-83 guidelines recommendations about waste treatment, including review of pit siting by sanitarians. Also discussed was the longevity of pathogens (long).
PANEL: PITS AND VAULTS
Bill Makel of USFS, San Dimas, was the chair of this panel, which included Cliff McDonald, Jeff Harker, and John Warder. Bill has the position that used to belong to Briar Cook, the "guru" of vault toilet design. Bill gave a review of Sweet Smelling Toilet (SST) fundamentals, many of which apply to venting of any waterless toilet. Vault toilets have some applicability to backcountry locations, such as when a road is closed to the public but open for administrative use. He also made everyone aware of the research that has been done on odor masking chemicals, finding that none of them work. Another point made was that efforts to hide toilets from sight are counterproductive, since exposure to wind and sun are necessary to remove odors from the area.
PANEL: COMPOSTING
This panel was chaired by Korwin Kirk of Yosemite, and included Lisa Ensworth, Kelly Bush, Al Palisca, and Chris English. Lisa and Al had different opinions of commercial composters, with Lisa reporting no problems with high usage figures, and Al stating that 10,000 uses per year will overload a Phoenix toilet. All composters in Yosemite are now overloaded by at least three times, and their Backcountry Utilities Division is designing and building larger scale composters than what is available commercially. They are anxious to see how well their design works out next season. North Cascades NP has had over ten years experience working with small composting units, and they are pleased with their current model of toilet with attached bin. All panelists agree that regular maintenance and appropriate sizing of units are keys to good operation. A rough classification of increasing capacities is 1) Sun-Mar, 2) North Cascades, 3) Phoenix and Clivus, and 4) Yosemite.
Testimony was made that interpretive programs were successful in reducing trash and other misuse of backcountry toilets. Briar Cook's retirement activity was discussed, he's designing and manufacturing a tool for stirring compost.
PANEL: DEHYDRATION
Joe Arnold of Rocky Mountain NP led Dick Halverson, Scott Ruesch, and Chris English in a discussion of dehydrating toilets. Rocky Mountain NP and Mt. Rainier NP both started working with dehydration in 1983 and have finally reached confidence with their toilets, after lots of headaches. Operation in both cases has evolved toward simplifying both components and necessary adjustments. Scott talked about dissatisfaction with the operation of Shasta toilets, and others expressed bafflement that they are still being marketed. Chris talked about closing the loop and the fact that landfills are increasingly less likely to accept human waste.
PANEL: FLY- AND CARRY-OUT
This panel was led by LuVerne Grussing of BLM and included John Warder, Dan Verrall, and Mike Carney. They talked about the user's responsibility to the resource and the recent development of the philosophy that users should pack their own waste out. Dan, Mike and John gave reports on their use of helicopters. LuVerne is the chair of the interagency task force on backcountry human waste disposal which has been little known up until now. The task force has worked primarily with river travel up to this point.
PANEL: FUTURE PLANS
John Collins of the USPHS was the chair of this panel, which included Phil Ayers, Trevor Jones, Elwood Lynn, and Phil Pollard. We held a free-wheeling discussion on how to keep the momentum that had been generated by the workshop, with many people eager to get together again in the near future. Bill Makel committed to push the USFS to write a book of guidelines, similar to other manuals they have written for frontcountry toilets. John Collins will lobby the NPS to do a follow up to the RAMWAD study. LuVerne will plan to produce a newsletter that will keep us up to date on future developments. Yosemite NP invited us to meet again in October 1994 at Yosemite. With the help of facilitator Gail Purifoy we brainstormed and then ranked a list of issues to consider in the future, and also what we feel are our communication needs. The results of the ranking is attached - please note the groupings section, which is more relevant than the first set of priorities. The group was very strong in desiring the guidelines book, although there was general agreement that toilet sites are all different and final decisions belong with area managers.
I'd like to thank everyone who participated for the interest, energy, experience, and commitment they brought to the workshop. I'd like to pass on a couple newsletter-type items. We should have discussed "biodegradable" plastic as an alternative. It would help our carry-out program if there really was some, but we haven't found it yet. We submerged a bag made from corn starch in an aerobic sewage digester for six weeks. At the end of that time only the lettering was slightly faded. Also, this week I talked to an engineer who is working on a solar incinerator for toilet waste. Maybe the ultimate answer! He said his company is on the "bleeding edge", but seemed confident they could make it work. Thanks again,
Roger Drake 4/15/93