Hicks Lake is located in Martin Luther King County's 32-acre Lakewood Park next door to Cascade and Evergreen schools.

Hicks Lake is only four acres in size yet receives drainage from 750 watershed acres. As the lake has no natural outlet, the drainage has to be pumped out and into Puget Sound.

Students being students throw the candy wrappers, soda cans and other litter onto school campus and, with the winds that blow from the south, the litter is directed in a funnel-shape area caused by the baseball outfield cyclone fence on the east side and on the west side by the Cascade School building. This litter then enters the lake on the southeast side of the lake.

Wrote to the principal of Cascade Middle School back in March of this year asking if they would help keep this area clean of this litter. Evidently the letter must have got lost as we never received a reply or the area was never cleaned.

Contacted the project manager of Highline School District No. 401 and met him and the grounds and site foreperson to inspect the area in question. Also in the same area is a very poor pathway on school property from the park personal fence opening that students use going to and from school.

Again no communication or any resolution to either of the above-noted items of concern.

Then e-mailed the project manager asking for permission to have volunteers that will be in Lakewood Park on White Center Clean-up Day on May 19 to clean up this area. Again no response.

Received a letter from the assistant superintendent of Highline School District stating my letter was shared with the principals and staff, but of this date the litter has not been picked up.

We should note that this is not a new problem. Last year met with Evergreen vice principal and the full-time deputy sheriff and a school counselor and viewed the same area and the same concerns were observed.

The State Legislature authorized many tax dollars to help clean up Puget Sound and you would think the Highline School District would fully endorse getting these environmental messes cleaned up as this litter going into Hicks Lake eventually ends up in Puget Sound.

Dick Thurnau

White Center