HAMBLEN COUNTY, Tenn. — Parts of Panther Creek State Park looks more like a dump after heavy rain pushed that trashed onto hiking trails.
The park blames a nearby private dumpsite that overflowed and sent the trash into the park.The debris sits around the nature trail walk just inside the entrance to the park in Hamblen County near Morristown.
In the midst of the beauty of nature, man’s footprint sits far too prominent.
"It can be summed up in two words: No respect," said Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin. "I just wish that people would understand that littering is a problem."
A washing machine rests next to a tree, a pipe stands in the middle of a stream, a shoe lays in the grass. The nature trail sits riddled with everything and anything people have thrown away. Sheriff Jarnagin says illegal dumpsites are a major problem in the area.
"They will load it up in the back of their truck and take it and throw it out in a remote area. A lot of the times it’s big couches and mattresses," said Jarnagin.
The county provides drive by trash pickup, which means residents can leave unwanted items outside their house to be hauled away. Many don’t take advantage of the service. Sheriff Jarnagin says his litter patrol teams pick up a staggering amount of trash on the side of the road or in parks every year.
"Over one million pounds of littler and debris that we are picking up on the roadsides of Hamblen County. Just Hamblen County alone," said Jarnagin.
As rain is expected in the forecast, trash left out will eventually flow into larger rivers. Large or small, it can impact the environment for generations to come.
"Every time it rains, we’re going to have everything wash down," said Kathleen Gibi with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful. "A plastic straw for example, that straw is going to take up to 450 years to break down."
The park says they are organizing a volunteer day coming up in March to help clean up all of this trash. They also say they’ll probably have to close the trail until then.