OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Almost 30 volunteers gathered at Melton Lake Park to help clean up the Clinch River on land and in the water. Organizers sid this is the 6th year volunteers have come out to help with the initiative.
The Clinch River runs 300 miles and goes directly through Anderson County, meaning many towns in the area, including Oak Ridge, rely on it for their drinking water, "You don't want to swim or boat in areas that have a lot of trash building up. It's bad for the fish life, and this is also our source of drinking water. I mean of course that gets treated but, y'know." Said Vanessa Vaughn with the city's Stormwater Management team.
Vaughn said the trash that they're picking up comes from multiple outlets, "A lot of it is litter, that gets thrown out of cars and then makes its way into our waterways, or that gets transported through stormwater runoff and into our waterways. Or some of it probably comes from recreational boat use on the Clinch River too."
The event has gotten people out to help in the past but this year is more than anything they've seen, "We have I think over 20 people here today, maybe closer to 30. The past two years since I've been with the city we've only had 10 volunteers each year. So today alone we've had more volunteers than the past two years combined, which is awesome." said Vaughn
Volunteers managed to gather 20 bags of trash from the shores and the water, and residents are already beginning to take notice.
"We've already had a couple of people come by and say thank you to us for doing this today, and I think people who are active users of Melton Hill Lake whether it be the rowing association or they bring their own boats out, I'm hoping they'll see the impact," Vaughn said.
If you want to get involved head to the Stormwater management website here