$4M toilet irks residents of Wash. town
ELBE, Wash. -- Residents of the town of Elbe, Wash., say their happy to finally have a public toilet after 20 long years.
But the toilet's $4 million price tag has some taxpayers thinking the whole thing is a waste.
The fight for a public toilet began way back in 1991 when Elbe residents grew upset over what tourists were doing and where they were going.
"Everybody's got to go to the bathroom. (They will) go behind your building, out in the parking lot, everywhere else," said Gayle Adams, Elbe's sewer commissioner.
Adams, who owns real estate in the area, gave the state land across the railroad tracks for a rest stop. But the state didn't like the tracks.
Adams also owned a large building, which he sold to the state for $150,000. The state fixed it up as the new public restroom, and by the time it was ready for public use, the total had surpassed $3 million, and maybe even $4 million.
"This is the tip of the iceberg of why this country's in the shape that it's in," said area resident Rick Adams.
Adams said there are a number of reasons he's upset. One of them: he used to live in the building that's since been turned into an outhouse.
"It had a kitchen, had showers, a bathroom," he said. "I was hooked up to the sewer."
Adams even has a 1981 drawing that depicts the sewer hookup. There still remains a manhole just a few feet from the rest area, but it isn't hooked up. Nowadays, waste must be pumped out.
"Pathetic," Adams said. "How else can you put it? It's a pretty sad state of affairs that we've come to to have to spend that kind of money when infrastructure's in place."
It turns out it's really not the state's fault; the town refused a federally-mandated water inspection. It couldn't afford it. So the county put a growth moratorium in place, and the town now has to haul water in, and waste out.
"It seems awful pricey, doesn't it?" said Elbe visitor Jack Cartwright.
But for travelers, it's still a bargain since many businesses in Elbe have posted "no bathroom" signs, or charge a buck to do what comes naturally.
There is also concern over the number of toilets - seven - and the number of parking lots - 17 - available at the new rest stop. Some fear the new facility won't be adequate to serve the 2 million people who visit the nearby Mount Rainier National Park each year.
