Volunteers clean up along parks trails, Silver Creek

Tag : clean gloves

Published: July 19, 2008 04:46 pm
Volunteers clean up along park’s trails, Silver Creek By MATT THACKER
Matt.Thacker@newsandtribune.com

Volunteers picked up trash throughout Lapping Park in Clarksvilleas part of the annual Silver Creek Clean Sweep on Saturday morning.

About two dozen people armed with gloves and trash bags walked thepark trails and waded into the creek looking for bottles, cans andother trash.

Most of the volunteers agreed that the park is very clean incomparison to other parks, but they still want to bring awarenessto the problem of pollution.

The event was sponsored by the Clarksville Parks Department and theKnob and Valley Audubon Society.

“It doesn’t take a lot to just reach down, pick uptrash and throw it in a can,” said David Coyte of the AudubonSociety. “Of course, we’d prefer people aren’tputting it down in the first place.”

One big problem for animals can be fishing line or hooks thatpeople leave near the water or that get tangled in trees, he said.

In previous years, the group found a sewing machine, computermonitor and car tires. This year, they found a lawn chair and alarge piece of sheet metal in the creek.

Rod Goforth, who worked for the Louisville Nature Center, organizedthe first Clean Sweep about seven years ago after going to asimilar one at a park in Louisville. He has made the event a familyaffair, coming with his father and son.

“(Lapping Park) was one of my favorite parks for hiking andnature watching,” he said. “This is a chance to kind ofshow off the park too.”

Goforth said he believes a lot of the trash comes from people wholive along the creek and do not secure their items. If the waterlevel rises or the wind blows, anything that is unsecured can getwashed away.

Matt Purlee and Brent Mode, Boy Scouts from Troop One inJeffersonville, came to earn service hours for a new badge. Troopleader Gary Purlee said he believes the experience will helpeducate the scouts. They seemed to get the message.

“People abuse the parks,” Mode said. “We’redestroying it. Why can’t we pick it up?”

Sylvia Hottle, Silver Creek Watershed Coordinator, was one of thevolunteers picking up trash. She said they are working on ayearlong study of the creek that should be completed in September.

“As of right now, it shows the same levels (of pollution) asother creeks,” she said. “Sedimentation is the numberone problem by far.”

They hope the results of the study will help them secure a grantthrough the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean WatersAct. With the grant, they would like to add buffer strips, treesand grass along the creek to help with runoff and clean the water.
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