Second Creek Pollution Part II

I called the city to find out more about the trash in 2nd Creek where it meets the Tennessee River near Volunteer landing. They sent me on a wild goose chase of phone calls, but were all very helpful. My final call was to Fort Loudon Lake Association which is located right by Ruth’s Chris on the river (865-523-3800). Scott Wilson was very helpful and patiently answered my long list of questions.

At the mouth of each creek, and sometimes up the creek as well, there are skimmers that collect litter to keep it from flowing into the Tennessee River. The reason there is so much litter at that point is because it is the collection of all the trash people throw out of their cars and on the street all the way up to North Knoxville. Everything flows down and piles up there so that Fort Loudon Lake Association can clean it out more easily. The accumulation of trash is even worse after a heavy rain that washes everyone’s litter into the creeks. When I asked how often they clean out the skimmers, Scott was unsure. 2nd creek is his coworker Jake’s domain. Scott said Jake may make it there once a week to clean up. He uses really long dipping nets to remove the trash. They could clean the skimmers one day but, if it rains, the next day the skimmers will be full again

So the problem is a little troublesome: how do you stop people from littering all over Knoxville? Doesn't seem very promising, does it?

Fort Loudon Lake Association does have educational programs and volunteer creek clean-ups. They are very short staffed and have a lot of territory to cover, not just the massive problem of 2nd creek. They rely on others to help them out.

You can go to www.fllake.org to find out more information. In the very near future I would like to get a group to do a creek clean up.

My comrades, ready your dipping nets.