SCAT machine shutdown in Riggins could create stinky situation in the whitewater capital of Idaho

RIGGINS, Idaho – More than 10,000 private and commercial boaters who will be floating the Main Salmon – River of No Return wilderness section this summer will have to find an alternative way to dispose of human waste after the U.S. Forest Service’s SCAT machine in this riverside town has been shut down for the 2018 river-running season.

The closure of the Riggins SCAT machine also affects Spokane and North Idaho kayakers and rafters who might be coming off Hells Canyon river trips at Pittsburg Landing, and boaters who do the Lower Salmon River and jet back to Pittsburg Landing.

It’s a potentially stinky situation without an easy solution for floaters who have the typical primitive rocket box toilet systems or a 5-gallon bucket toilet system, both of which were designed to work in a SCAT machine for clean out after a weeklong trip in paradise.

“We just have to tell people that we don’t have an option for them this year,” Jeremy Harris of the Salmon River Ranger District said.

The Forest Service sent out a notice to people who drew a permit to run the Main Salmon this year, letting them know they’ll be on their own to dispose of their human waste, Harris said.

Last summer, Gem Stop service station officials notified the Salmon River Ranger District that they were going to shut down the SCAT machine – a highly specialized portable toilet-cleaning machine – and the Forest Service would need to find a new location.

In December, worse news came when the Forest Service met with Riggins city officials. They were told that the city would no longer take the waste stream from the SCAT machine because there were too many foreign objects such as HandiWipes, beer cans and bottles, charcoal and disposable diapers.

“This is a big deal,” said Eric Weiseth, managing partner of Orange Torpedo river trips, which offers day trips and multiday trips on the Salmon River. “This is going to be a really, really tough deal for the boating community. We could see people dumping their waste in pit toilets or throwing it in a dumpster in Riggins where it’s going to fester in 115-degree heat. It could be really nasty.”

“We have to put pressure on the Forest Service to solve this situation,” said Brent Estep, owner of Mackay Wilderness River Trips, which offers Main Salmon trips all summer.

The Forest Service instituted rules that required floaters to pack out waste in the late 1980s. The agency maintained pit toilets at Main Salmon and Middle Fork Salmon River campsites for a number of years. Because of concerns about the potential of fecal material or E. coli bleeding into the pristine rivers, the agency phased out pit toilets and moved to a pack-it-out regulation.

SCAT machines were placed in Riggins, on the Salmon River Road on the way out from a Middle Fork trip, near North Fork, Idaho, and in Asotin, Washington, for Hells Canyon boaters and Lower Salmon floaters taking out at Heller Bar so floaters could dump their waste after a trip. This system worked well for more than 20 years until the Forest Service encountered the SCAT shutdown in Riggins.

Now Riggins, which calls itself the “Whitewater Capital of Idaho,” has found itself in a dicey situation in which it can’t accommodate a key part of a float party’s experience – dumping waste in a sanitary manner after a trip.

Forest Service officials are looking at relocating the human-waste dump site to the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area property in the south part of Riggins. They also plan to buy a new SCAT machine that will require the waste to be pumped out by a truck and taken to a wastewater facility that will accept it.

“We’re hoping to have a solution for 2019,” Harris said.

In the meantime, floaters should consider portable toilet systems that are equipped with a 3-inch hose that would allow them to dispose of their waste at any RV dump.

There are several models available. Selway Fabrication makes a toilet that’s compatible with RV dumps. They are manufactured in Boise and cost $399.

“The toilet comes with a hose fitting for running water into the toilet and pressuring the waste to go down the 3-inch hose into a RV dump facility,” said Nate Wilson, co-owner of Selway Fabrication.

Another recommendation is to consider upgrading to a new portable toilet such as the Selway model that is compatible with an RV dump. That provides more options, no matter where the river trip is. Or stick with the old system and find a suitable place to clean out the groover after a trip.

Steve Stuebner is an outdoor writer and Salmon River boater. See his weekly outdoor blog at Stueby’s Outdoor Journal http://stuebysoutdoorjournal.blogspot.com/.