Rivers Alive cleanup returns to the Simms Mountain Trail
Power plant volunteers are a big part of the cleanup team.
Volunteers from Georgia Power Plant Hammond and the Keep RomeFloyd Beautiful organization will fan out across the Simms Mountain Trail on Friday for the annual Rivers Alive clean up. It marks the second straight fall the Simms Mountain Trail near the intersection of Huffaker and Big Texas Valley roads has been targeted for the local observance of the statewide program.
“It targets all of the waterways in the state of Georgia, streams, rivers, beaches, lakes and wetlands,” said Mary Hardin Thornton, director of Keep RomeFloyd Beautiful. “Georgia has over 70,000 miles of streams and waterways and all of these are affected by action we take on dry land.”
Thornton said any kind of trash that blows out of a car or is intentionally thrown out of a vehicle eventually finds its way into a waterway. “It affects our drinking water quality, if affects our soil, it is not a good thing for wildlife and it sends a message that you just don’t care,” Thornton said.
Last year, the volunteers removed the hull of an old power boat from the trail, several large appliances including a refrigerator, 22 tires and bag after bag of trash.
“This is something we can tackle with the Plant Hammond volunteers and our core groups of supporters,” Thornton said.
Anyone is welcome to volunteer for the event Friday. The group will meet at Evan’s Store on the Alabama Highway at 8:30 a.m., clean to 11:30 a.m., then meet back at Evan’s for lunch. Volunteers are encouraged to wear comfortable work shoes and long pants. Gloves, bags and grabbers will be provided.