People are furious after several 5-gallon paint cans were found dumped in a clear mountain creek in Bighorn National Forest
Story residents Torey and Jordan Flack were enjoying an off-road excursion with their kids Sunday. After fishing for a bit, they turned onto Trail 137, near Porcupine Falls, when they encountered the scene.
“When my wife got out of the side-by-side, she immediately said she smelled something,” Torey Flack told Cowboy State Daily. “She said it smelled like paint.”
Flack was skeptical. Unless someone was working on a fence in the area, it made no sense that there’d be paint up there. They grabbed their fishing poles and approached the nearby creek.
That’s when they encountered an infuriating scene.
“As we started walking toward the creek, I saw one bucket,” Flack said. “I thought it was trash, but as I came around the corner, I saw bucket after bucket after bucket.”
The Flacks found four 5-gallon paint cans and several more 1-gallon pails. Many of them were open and had been tossed into the creek, so their paint was leaking downstream.
Nearby rocks were smothered in green and black paint. It was so fresh that the Flacks’ dog had fresh paint sticking to his paws.
“They dumped their paint and stain buckets into the creek, and not a small amount,” Flack said. “They made an absolute mess everywhere.”
Cleaning Up Their Mess
The Flacks’ family outing quickly turned into a cleanup effort. They were immediately concerned about the havoc this mess could cause downstream.
“We were concerned about the fish and wildlife downstream,” Flack said. “We ended up walking the creek up and down, just to make sure we pulled everything out.”
Before removing the paint cans, Flack photographed the scene. He wanted Bighorn National Forest rangers to see the full extent of the scene before they cleaned everything up.
It was clear that the colorful carnage had occurred not long before the Flacks arrived. The paint on the rocks was still tacky, and paint was still oozing from the half-submerged cans.
“I guess it could have even happened the evening before, and it could have just slowly been oozing out since then,” Flack said. “I believe we got there relatively soon after they got there.”
Flack searched every can for anything that might identify who bought or left them there but didn’t find anything useful.
“I did search the buckets for any name tags, paint codes, or anything that would reference us back to a hardware store, but we didn't locate any,” he said.
The Flacks stacked the paint cans on the nearby shore while trying to “contain as much of the paint as they could” as it continued flowing downstream. Then, they left the scene to inform a ranger.
As of Monday, Flack had connected with someone at Bighorn National Forest. They told him that local law enforcement and an environmental control agency had also been notified and were investigating the incident.
“It was quite a mess,” he said.
When reached Monday, Sara Kirol of the Bighorn National Forest said she didn't have any additional details but that forest law-enforcement officers were aware of the situation.
What’s Going Through Their Head?
Forest Road 137, also known as the Jaws Hike, is a somewhat rugged trail in Bighorn National Forest. The creek where the Flacks found the paint cans is Porcupine Creek, near the popular Porcupine Falls.
“The creek is fairly remote if you don't have a side-by-side, but it is next to a pretty popular walking trail by Porcupine Falls,” Flack said. “It’s not the hardest place to get to.”
Flack searched for any clues that could explain who had been there, what they were doing, and why they’d left their paint cans behind in such an appalling way. After searching and thinking it over, he’d drawn a blank.
“I can think of a million better things to do up on the mountain,” he said. “I'm not too sure what went through this person's head. I was just glad that we were able to get them pulled out of the creek.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
