| 114th Year, 8th Issue | Thursday, October 3, 2002 | Sparta, North Carolina |
More than 60 miles of New River watershed in North Carolina were ‘swept clean' on Sept. 21 by in excess of 250 volunteers assisting with the N.C. Big Sweep.
According to a news release, volunteers pulled glass and plastic bottles, Styrofoam pieces, scrap metal, 274 tires and several appliances out of New River.
More than eight tons of litter were removed from 20 assorted stretches along the South Fork, North Fork and main stem in Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties.
Several Alleghanians, including Alleghany High School art students, earth science classes and Beta Club, participated in the clean up. Also, River Camp USA participated by donating canoes and shuttle service to the effort.
New River State Park helped provide trash pickup service at the majority of the sites and helped to coordinate the cleanup efforts in this area.
Unusual finds during this year's event included shopping carts, old bed springs, drainage pipes, metal pipes, tin roofing materials, wooden pallets, a cement parking lot block, a fire hose, a washing machine, a rusty radiator and numerous other car parts.
Other finds included a 50-gallon drum, a television antenna, a toilet, a hard rubber squirrel, a big bird toy, a purse and a bicycle.
The cleanup of the New was part of a statewide effort to remove trash from the state's coastal and inland waterways, which is organized as a branch of the International Coastal Cleanup Day that takes place every third Saturday in September.
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