Friday, July 18^th was a cloudy, drizzly day here in Central Kentucky but that didn’t stop volunteers and staff from Bluegrass Greensource and Bluegrass Conservancy from heading out to the South Elkhorn Creek in Scott County to clean up litter and debris. Owned by Bob and Laura Riddle, the Riddle Farm off Fisher’s Mill Road features a one-mile section of the South Elkhorn that unfortunately captures a lot of trash and litter as the Elkhorn flows from Fayette County and through Scott County, especially during the flooding season in the spring. Participants climbed down the bank and into the stream around 10am and continued cleaning up until 1pm, collecting over 1150 pounds of material from the stream and its banks. Items collected included 20 bags of trash, nine tires, a bale of metal fencing, and even the dashboard from an old piece of farm machinery. Most trash was easily picked up with litter grabbers but the tires, some of which were sunk into the mud, had to be partially dug out and then pulled out with the use of chains and Mr. Riddle’s tractor. As for the impact of this cleanup, Mr. Riddle talked extensively with Rebecca Smith of WKYT about how he remembers thousands of ducks visiting the Elkhorn in his childhood, but over time those numbers have dwindled. Since he has been working with Bluegrass Conservancy to help preserve his property, the ducks have started to return. And that, he thinks, is a very good sign.

This cleanup was held in partnership with Kyle Goodwin, Georgetown City Engineer.