WAYCROSS -- Some soggy litter control in
Waycross is making the Satilla a little cleaner, and work is
under way to make it cleaner still.
After heavy rains, employees at the city's sewage
treatment plant tromp down to the banks of a canal that
carries most of the storm water runoff into the river. Using
a canoe and nets, they remove floating rafts of refuse that
collect at fallen logs and bends in the canal.
One of the biggest collection points is at a huge pine
felled by one of last year's tropical storms that now lies
from bank to bank. On Thursday, five workers pulled out
basketballs, a football, a softball and a baseball,
seemingly hundreds of soft drink and water bottles, motor
oil bottles, foam cups, foam packing material, Christmas
ornaments, beer bottles and paper.
Most of it resulted from someone tossing it on the
streets where it was washed into storm drains and then into
the network of canals, said Sonny Bland, city engineer and
water/sewer director.
"We got a lawn chair last time, a tire, a door off a
refrigerator,'' said Scott Murphy, project manager for
Environmental Services Group, a private company that manages
the treatment plant under contract.
Someone in the group suggested the rest of the
refrigerator would wash down in the next heavy rain.
Trash removal is not part of ESG's contract, but Murphy
said he and the workers decided to make some time to do it.
They even rehabbed a used canoe to get into the canal to
remove trash out of reach from the bank.
Had the trash not been removed, that next heavy rain
could have also washed the refuse over the log and into the
Satilla River, where it would collect again in huge rafts of
debris.
Conservationists have been worried about it for years.
When they organized the Satilla Riverkeeper last year, they
used photos of the floating trash in the river as
justification.
The answer is a bar screen across the canal that could
catch virtually everything that floats down, Bland said.
"The problem with it is cleaning it,'' he said.
City Manager Pete Pyrzenski said he is hopeful the
cleanup can start upstream on the city's elaborate system of
canals.
"That's one of the plans, to look at the canals,''
Pyrzenski said as he completed his first week on the job.
As former head of public works for Valdosta for 7 1/2
years, Pyrzenski has experience in beautification efforts.
Pyrzenski said he wants to map the canals
to identify all the choke points and flow and pollution
problems.
As Waycross and Ware County commissioners form their
first Keep Ware-Waycross Beautiful program, the waterways
will be targeted, he said.
That organization can help with education and in
enlisting volunteers, such as Scout groups that can earn
merit badges with cleanups, he said.
The nature of the trash -- the drink cups, cans and
bottles, wrappers and household goods -- indicates the
problem starts with individual citizens, who will be asked
to keep the streets clean, he said.
Leaders of Satilla River conservation groups said they
are pleased with the efforts.
"I think that's wonderful,'' Satilla Riverkeeper Gordon
Rogers said.
Rogers said he is also encouraged residents and officials
are recognizing the problem of non-point source pollution,
which the result of widespread runoff is called.
Waycross had shown an interest before Pyrzenski took
office, Rogers said.
Typically, conservation groups have to pressure
governments for action. But, Rogers said, "They picked up
the phone and called me. I was impressed with that."
Gloria Taylor, a riverside resident in the Atkinson
community, said the work in Waycross will improve the
cleanliness of the river all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
"They've said they want to be a model city, and we would
love for them to be,'' she said.
Rogers said he hopes other governments will show the same
level of interest. With just a few months on the job, Rogers
said he has worked with Brantley County, which has a huge
stretch of the river, but still must establish relationships
in Pierce and Bacon counties.
Rogers said he and five other representatives from
Brantley County attended a workshop in Gwinnett County on
storm water management.
"These people are very forward-thinking. I should have
been dragging them up there, but they dragged me,'' he said
of the officials who urged him to go.
Their attendance attracted the attention of University of
Georgia officials who are working with the Etowah Initiative
on the North Georgia river. Rogers said he wants the Satilla
to have the same status.
"I want the Satilla to be a poster child,'' he said.
