Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says they are waiting for Columbia to submit a detailed plan on how they plan to stop human waste and trash from homeless camps from getting into Hinkson creek and other waterways.
One of the biggest homeless camps is near Bob Evans, near the I-70 and Highway 63 connector. DNR director Kurt Schafer was live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Missouri”:
“Essentially what happens is where these encampments pop up not only do you have a tremendous amount of trash that ends up in the creek, but you have human excrement. I tell people all the time you know, (the) encampment at 63 and 70 sometimes is estimated to have up to 60 people,” Schaefer says.
Director Schaefer says Columbia’s homeless population is “pretty large” for the city’s size:
“If somebody came to us and said we’re going to put in a campground, we’re going to have 60 camp sites. We’re going to have no drinking water, no trash pickup and no sewer … we would say no,” says Schaefer.
Columbia spokeswoman Sydney Olsen says the city remains committed to protecting water quality for its residents.
Click here to listen to the interview with DNR director Schaefer.