Safety Alert: Increased Traffic on Weekdays at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS - Weekday visitors to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks should be especially careful—be observant and stay in designated traffic lanes—while visiting the parks through October 12, 2016. Up to 25 large dump trucks with trailers will be traveling through the parks on weekdays from sunrise until approximately 3 p.m. The trucks and trailers will travel through Sequoia National Park from the Giant Forest Museum parking lot toward Kings Canyon National Park along the Generals Highway (main road through the parks) and use Hwy. 180 to travel toward Fresno and to other locations. These vehicles are involved in the removal of trash from a historic dump in Sequoia National Park. Removal of the dump material is a proactive measure, as the dump contains materials that could be potentially hazardous if left on-site.

Background: This historic dump—the Lodgepole Incinerator or "Lower Kaweah Dump Area"—was used to burn domestic waste from 1931 to 1965. The historic dumpsite is located near an old incinerator and maintenance yard approximately 1,350 feet northwest of the Giant Forest Museum. The incinerator was dismantled around 1975. Additional ash from the incinerator was subsequently buried at other historic dumps outside the park in Tulare County. It has been reported that the historic dump is approximately 100 feet long by 95 feet wide. The thickness of the dump fill material ranges from 2 to 9 feet, with an estimated average thickness of 5 feet. Approximately 1,760 cubic yards of material will be removed from the historic dump.

The contents of the dump fill consisted mostly of burned materials. In addition to ash from the incinerator, other garbage in the dumpsite includes metal, glass, porcelain, aluminum pans and pitchers, wire, pipes, paint cans, wood chips, and roots.