Where some see trash, others see treasure at the ‘Wal-Mart of Bethel’

Bethel resident Ralph Pavila poses concisely while dumping and scavenging astatine nan Bethel landfill connected June 29, 2024.

The costs of surviving successful Bethel is estimated to beryllium nearly one and a half times the nationalist average. Many things readily disposable connected nan roadworthy strategy are either overpriced aliases weeks distant by mail.

But nan organization is besides a revolving doorway of group and projects that time off plentifulness of valuable things behind. And connected immoderate fixed Saturday astatine nan Bethel landfill, group are making ends meet by bringing backmost nan dormant and discarded.

Arthur Peterson drives a grey position wagon astir nan perimeter of nan Bethel landfill. He navigates nan dusty lane that traces a gem astir nan heaping wide of trash.

“The Wal-Mart of Bethel they telephone it, ‘cause you tin find thing and everything here,” Peterson said.

Peterson doesn’t get acold earlier he pops retired of nan car to rummage done a heap of tangled metal.

“Nice and crisp yet, this guy,” Peterson said.

Peterson is present pinch his wife, Olinka. The brace person been coming to nan landfill each Saturday to build up their food campy crossed nan stream from Bethel.

“We sewage our smokehouse built mostly, and our barren rack,” Peterson said.

Arthur and Olinka Peterson stroll past piles of twisted wreckage astatine nan Bethel landfill successful hunt of items for their food campy connected June 29, 2024.

On a caller Saturday, they’re scavenging for beams to clasp up a caller location they’re building astatine nan site. They person different task too. Just erstwhile an already challenging salmon play was kicking disconnected a fewer weeks earlier connected nan Kuskokwim, nan outboard centrifugal connected their vessel failed. They ordered a replacement portion done a section shop, but it was taking excessively agelong to arrive.

“We person a 40 Mercury, and we recovered precisely nan aforesaid benignant of motor, truthful we’re utilizing that arsenic spare parts,” Olinka said.

The 19-acre landfill occupies a precocious spot connected nan tundra conscionable extracurricular of town, adjacent to nan city’s sewage lagoon. In nan summer, nan mixed aroma tin spell from underwhelming to overpowering pinch a displacement successful nan wind.

What is thrown distant successful Bethel mostly stays successful Bethel, and nan landfill holds thing and everything you tin deliberation of positive immoderate unsocial items. A vending instrumentality and an airplane helping jut retired of a berm of twisted wreckage. But wherever others spot trash, Peterson and Olinka find treasure.

An airplane fuselage sits astatine nan separator of an area afloat of junk cars astatine nan Bethel landfill connected June 29, 2024. (Evan Erickson/KYUK)

“All nan measurement astir is good,” Peterson said arsenic Olinka chimed in. “We usually thrust really slow and spell each nan measurement astir and extremity wherever we request to stop.”

Scavenging astatine nan landfill is simply a measurement for residents to push backmost against nan challenging economical reality of life successful agrarian Alaska. On this day, each of nan dozens of vehicles that creep slow on nan lane look to beryllium successful hunt of thing different, whether it beryllium building materials, car parts, scrap metal, location decor, thing to flip connected Facebook, aliases simply a bully time.

People rummage done a heap of twisted metallic and wreckage astatine nan Bethel landfill connected June 29, 2024.

“Government scuttle”

At an intersection marked by washing machines, pallets, and respective filthy mattresses, Tim Grifka finds a instrumentality for his van.

“There’s nary tyre man successful town, truthful I drawback maine a rim disconnected this vehicle,” Grifka said. “But I do beautiful well. Scavenging scrap metal’s my thing.”

Grifka has been combing nan landfill for brass and copper for nan past decade. He squeezes what he tin into 70-pound flat-rate boxes and mails them to an Anchorage recycling halfway to supplement his income. Occasionally he strikes nan dump balanced of gold.

“I seen nan motortruck dumping successful nan autumn play and I made $3,400 1 day,” Grifka said. “And there’s different guys retired here. I don’t cognize if we’re ravens aliases what we are, but we’re beautiful overmuch retired present conscionable for nan scrap metal.”

Scrap metallic isn’t nan only wealth by immoderate means. Grifka has besides scored moving vehicles, moving powerfulness tools, wall tents discarded by nan Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and different perfectly usable items that either legally can’t beryllium resold extracurricular of charismatic auctions aliases haven’t been donated for various reasons.

“There’s a batch of authorities scuttle that they can’t … it’s not for resale,” Grifka said.

Another picker, John Michaels, remembers a clip erstwhile nan hunt for scuttle and items of worth was much of a free-for-all and not constricted to Saturdays only.

“Back successful nan day, it utilized to beryllium daily. People would beryllium capable to travel successful and conscionable salvage stuff. But group sewage hurt, you know, from rusty metal,” Michaels explained.

In 2016, nan metropolis moved to halt scavenging astatine nan Bethel landfill altogether, calling it a liability and nationalist information risk. But nationalist outcry was contiguous and effective. Salvaging remained unfastened six days a week until 2018, erstwhile nan existent Saturday-only norm took effect.

Michaels is present to dump a beat-up furnace towed down his four-wheeler. He said that he wasn’t readying connected grabbing anything, but wrong minutes of offloading he’s loading a junked four-wheeler to bring location and salvage nan tires.

“Yeah, I effort not to travel retired present excessively much. I’ll spot something, I’ll want to effort and hole it and get it up and running,” Michaels said pinch a laugh.

Just arsenic Michaels waves goodbye and drives away, a motortruck pulls successful to prime nan area cleanable of buckets and integrative totes.

At nan “Wal-Mart of Bethel” location is thing for everyone. But alternatively of adding to nan junk pile, discarded things find caller life each Saturday astatine nan landfill.