Published: July 19, 2008 04:46 pm            

Volunteers clean up along park’s trails, Silver Creek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goforth said he believes a lot of the trash comes from people who live along the creek and do not secure their items. If the water level rises or the wind blows, anything that is unsecured can get washed away.

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

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

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

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

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

        

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