Local volunteers remove 13,224 pounds of garbage from the Conasauga River

Published 12:02 am Sunday, June 24, 2018

On April 21, volunteers got up bright and early with the intention of spending the morning protecting the local Conasauga River Watershed by cleaning up litter along the sites. They arrived at one of the nine sites to spend the next couple of hours at the 23rd Annual Conasauga River Cleanup.

Two hundred eighty-eight volunteers showed up to remove trash, debris and invasive plants from seven locations in Whitfield and Murray counties.

The annual Conasauga River Cleanup was initially scheduled for United Way’s Make a Difference Day in 2017, but was rained out. So, it was rescheduled for Earth Day weekend and, fortunately, had beautiful weather on the new date.

Sites included in this year’s event were the Conasauga River at the Highway 2 bridge and at the Lower Kings Bridge and the Norton Bridge. Also, Holly Creek in Murray County on the Chattahoochee National Forest, a Mill Creek tributary in the city of Dalton, Coahulla Creek at Prater’s Mill and Lakeshore Park in the city of Dalton.

This year also included a “rolling cleanup” that started at Prater’s Mill and continued on to McGaughey Chapel Bridge, Cohutta-Beaverdale Bridge and the Hopewell Bridge.

Garbage found at each site was the result of illegal dumping, irresponsible abandonment after using a site or accidental loss of items from a vehicle with an unsecured load. Event organizers encourage the public to pick up litter when they see it, even if it isn’t theirs; properly secure loads on vehicles, even when traveling short distances; take out what they take in at outdoor recreation areas; and properly dispose of tires and bulky items at an approved drop-off location. Small efforts from everyone will result in big results and a cleaner environment.

Volunteers found and removed 13,224 pounds of garbage which included 72 tires, six mattresses, a dishwasher, freezer and a washing machine. The most commonly found items were plastic bottles.

Volunteers received a T-shirt from the state Rivers Alive program, and also received a hat commemorating the event.

The coordinators of this event want to thank every volunteer that spent their morning aiding in the cleanup and for their continued passion in making the community a cleaner and better place for people and wildlife.

The following sponsors provided the funds needed to purchase the hats, T-shirts and supplies: J+J Flooring, Shaw Industries, Dalton Utilities, Conasauga River Alliance, The Nature Conservancy and Georgia’s Rivers Alive.

Whitfield County Public Works, the city of Dalton and the Dalton Housing Authority transported the garbage from the sites to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority’s Old Dixie Highway Landfill.

Also, the following organizations helped coordinate the event: Conasauga River Alliance, Dalton State College, Dalton Utilities, Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, Limestone Valley RC & D, U.S. Forest Service, United Way, The Nature Conservancy and Whitfield and Murray County Extension.

The Conasauga River, one of the six most biologically diverse freshwater river systems in the United States, supports 24 endangered species and a dozen other imperiled species, including the Southern Pigtoe mussel and the Conasauga Logperch, a fish found nowhere else in the world.

The Conasauga Watershed Cleanup has long been a participant of Rivers Alive, one of the South’s largest volunteer efforts to beautify water resources. In 2017, more than 26,000 volunteers participated in 274 cleanup events throughout the state and removed more than 430,000 pounds of garbage from Georgia waterways.

For more information about efforts in other areas or the statewide campaign, visit www.RiversAlive.org.