Volunteers round up litter in Founders Park
Wading south from Founders Park at Campbell Station Road, pulling litter from stream banks and the stream bottom, volunteers found 89.9 pounds of trash.
The event, called Stream Trea-sure Hunt, took place Saturday, June 11, as part of Farragut Stormwater Matters’ One Year Down the Drain: Turkey Creek program.
Alex Foster, a Farragut resident, attended the Stream Treas-ure Hunt event for the first time.
“It’s a blast, a good way to help your community,” he said.
Alison Shogan of Farragut helped clean up the stream with her daughter, Lauren.
“I think it’s important to keep our environment litter free and as clean as possible,” she said. She also liked spending time with her daughter.
Chapel Grove resident Robert Raube said he moved to Farragut a little over a year ago and this was his second Stream Treasure Hunt.
“Farragut is a beautiful community, and it’s amazing how garbage does accumulate in places,” he said.
“It’s nice to be able to get access to those places and clean it up because Farragut is one of the nicest places around here in all of Knoxville area.”
Volunteers put on waders before beginning the cleanup and they wore gloves to protect their hands.
Trash included pieces of tires, an arrow and a long metal rod.
Joseph Konvicka, watershed assistant with Farragut Stormwater Matters, led the cleanup effort. He said on other cleanup days volunteers had found baby dolls that were missing limbs and a waffle maker. In another location, he said they had found bicycle parts. Raube said on his previous trip he had found a baby buggy and a twin-bed-size box-spring mattress.
Konvicka said this was the pilot year for the One Year Down the Drain: Turkey Creek program, and it would continue at least until September. The Town will display the trash in the Outdoor Classroom on Campbell Station Road. Then, he said the litter would be used for art projects or else trashed or recycled properly. He said it would typically be a monthly event. He said so far, volunteers had collected 336.8 pounds of trash connected to the project and cleaned 0.67 miles of stream.
He said he brought a special container for disposing of sharp objects. He said he would contact police if volunteers found objects that looked like illegal paraphernalia. He said volunteers should wear shorts to be more comfortable in waders.
