Astoria will close a free RV dump station near the New Youngs Bay Bridge by the end of the year due to staff concerns that the unmonitored site could put the city’s wastewater treatment system at risk.

The dump station is a vulnerability in a wastewater system experiencing higher annual loads, Public Works Department staff told the City Council Monday. The city does not monitor the station and does not track what gets dumped there.

If the wastewater system were deemed unable to handle these higher loads overall, the state could require a new, technical plant estimated to cost around $50 million.

Staff, hoping to extend the useful life of the system, are identifying problem spots like the dump station. They have sent flyers out to residential customers, reminding them of what should and should not be flushed down a toilet — “a toilet is not a trash can!” — and working with large industrial users like local breweries. 

Fort Stevens State Park also provides RV dump services. After the Astoria dump station closes on Dec. 31, users will be able to go there instead, staff said.

City councilors voted 4-1 to close the dump station. Councilor Tom Brownson was the sole “no” vote. He advocated for delaying a decision to give staff more time to study the issue and investigate a “pay to dump” solution.

A handful of residents also asked the City Council to keep the dump station open. It’s not just for tourists passing through, they said.

Dan Sealy, who lives in city limits, uses the dump station occasionally and opposed the closure. He pointed out that public restrooms are “open portals, too.”

The dump station is a small entry into the larger system, he said.

“I appreciate their concern about keeping our system in good shape,” he added. “I don’t want to see us have to spend $50 million but I can’t imagine this one little RV station is what’s going to cause us to have to build the new system.” 

William Olson, from Svensen, also wondered what homeless people living out of their RVs will use, arguing that they will dump where it is convenient if the station isn’t open. The Fort Stevens dump station is not open all day, he said. The next closest public dump stations are in Rainier and Wheeler, both almost 60 miles away from Astoria.

He argued that the influx of tourists in the summer and their use of restrooms in town probably has more of an overall impact than the RV dump station.

But City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill was not convinced. She said she was speaking up for the people “who would like to be able to affordably flush their toilet in Astoria.”

“It’s going to be a terrible inconvenience to some of the people who came here tonight and spoke very well trying to defend the closure of the dump station,” she said. “But for the greater good of Astoria, we need to do what our public works staff is recommending and extend the life of our sewage treatment plant.”

“I don’t think that we should continue to have an unchecked, free RV dump station so tourists can come and dump their crap so the ratepayers in Astoria have to pay more money,” she added. “That’s ridiculous.”