On
Saturday, February 7, RiverLink and the residents of the historic Falconhurst
neighborhood in West Asheville teamed up for a cleanup of Smith Mill Creek. In
spite of
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Michael
Kohnle with fluorescent tubes removed from the environment
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temperatures in the 20s, 18
residents of Falconhurst and RiverLink volunteers came out - and some of them
even waded in the creek to better remove trash. The group hauled a plethora of
trash and unusual items out of this urban creek that parallels Patton Avenue.
Area businesses were so happy to have the area cleaned that they donated
dumpster space for the debris.
Seven tires, an automobile
transmission, two large signs from a long-gone business, various drink bottles,
plastic shopping bags, and other assorted items were removed from the stream.
Perhaps the most disturbing find was a collection of fluorescent light tubes,
including a broken tube. Fluorescent lights have mercury in them, not a
substance to be leaking into our environment. The tubes were taken to the
Asheville Fire Department for proper disposal.
RiverLink plans to work with the
neighbors again in warmer months to get further into Smith Mill Creek to remove
even more debris. There is also a stream flowing in the neighborhood that needs
a name, a service RiverLink provides through its Name that Creek program.
The Falconhurst neighborhood is
working with RiverLink to establish a Comprehensive Creek Care team, an
approach to neighborhood creek care that approaches water quality improvements
in a variety of ways. Neighborhoods, businesses, churches and other groups
around Western North Carolina have already worked to improve water quality
through RiverLink's Adopt-A-Stream program. RiverLink is now offering more
tools for more improvements: litter cleanups, stormdrain marking, invasive
species removal, and giving unnamed streams names.
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