{"id":2242,"date":"2026-06-18T08:03:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:03:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:03:53","slug":"vapes-among-2500-pounds-of-trash-pulled-from-salt-river-raising-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242","title":{"rendered":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

MESA, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Cleanup crews pulled thousands of pounds of trash from the Salt River following a busy weekend, including an item that has environmental officials concerned.<\/p>\n

Read more FACT FINDERS: E-bike accidents on rise in Arizona as riders, drivers navigate traffic laws<\/a><\/p>\n

Volunteers and state workers recovered 2,500 pounds of trash during the recent cleanup. Among the debris: 39 phones, three umbrellas, one hamster cage and 22 pounds of vapes.<\/p>\n

The vapes are drawing health concerns from state officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was seeing all of this trash after a fun three-day weekend, my heart was so sad because it is, it\u2019s really upsetting that people treat the environment that way,\u201d said Meghan Smart from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
RELATED: Salt River volunteers collect 5 gallons of human waste, toilet paper in cleanup<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Smart said the batteries and vapes can leak chemicals into the water that eventually flows to Valley cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s chemicals. You\u2019re introducing that into our waterway, which a wastewater treatment plant has to clean out, a drinking water supply system has to clean out,\u201d she explained. \u201cReally, we need to protect our streams and our lakes because they\u2019re our water sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more ESA voucher enrollment data finds higher participation from high-income zip codes<\/a><\/p>\n

Smart said she had never seen that many vapes recovered from the water before.<\/p>\n

Crews also found typical items like sunglasses, phones and unfinished drinks during the cleanup.<\/p>\n

With a holiday weekend approaching, state officials are urging people to throw trash into trash cans at the river or pack out what they pack in. Officials also encourage people to collect trash if they see it.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Caught on camera: First responders save dogs, turtle from Phoenix house fire<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cleanup crews pulled thousands of pounds of trash from the Salt River following a busy weekend, including an item that has environmental officials concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nVapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cleanup crews pulled thousands of pounds of trash from the Salt River following a busy weekend, including an item that has environmental officials concerned.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242\"},\"wordCount\":335,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242\",\"name\":\"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2242#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"Cleanup crews pulled thousands of pounds of trash from the Salt River following a busy weekend, including an item that has environmental officials concerned.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns","datePublished":"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242"},"wordCount":335,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242","name":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-18T08:03:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d2ca3b29a4cacf7597fa552fb857f895.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2242#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vapes among 2,500 pounds of trash pulled from Salt River, raising safety concerns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}