The 652-mile long Tennessee River is one of the dirtiest—if not THE dirtiest—river in the country. Experts who performed a study on the river in 2019 dubbed it a “river of plastic,” stating it may be polluted with the most plastic particles of any river in the world. Speaking to local station WLVT, University of Tennessee Arboretum education coordinator Michelle Campanis said:

“In terms of the other types of pollution, pharmaceuticals, heavy metal, the Tennessee River really isn’t so bad. The microplastics are astronomically higher than any other river they’ve studied.”

Over a three-day cleanup mission earlier this month, a group of volunteers in Tennessee removed a whopping 9,200lbs of debris and trash from the Tennessee River.

The nonprofit organization Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) in cooperation with the Johnsonville State Historic Park utilized a 25-foot aluminum boat to clean along sections of the river’s shoreline.

The organization hosted a precious cleanup in October in cooperation with nonprofit Living Lands & Waters, who brought out five 30-foot aluminum boats to transport trash removed from the river. During that cleanup almost 5,000lbs of garbage was removed.

Kathleen Gibi is the executive director for Keep The Tennessee River Beautiful and said:

“That’s how the change for our river will happen: through local partners and individuals who are eager about taking ownership to protect and improve their beautiful river community. It’s been truly inspiring for us to see these change makers take action — especially with the local leadership from Johnsonville State Historic Park.”

The January cleanup saw triple the amount of volunteers show up to participate, and three miles of the riverbank was adopted by several volunteers who committed to keeping that area clean year-round.

Of the cleanup efforts, Ranger Noah Sinz of the Johnsonville State Historic Park said:

“On the banks of the Tennessee River, agriculture, industrial growth, fishing, Civil War battles, and much more have shaped the culture of Humphreys County. Cleanup projects like this past weekend help us to preserve those cultural resources, as well as the natural resource of the Tennessee River for many years to come.”

KTNRB is working with Ranger Sinz to try and plan another cleanup for April. Their goal is to remove a total of 100,000lbs of garbage fr the river by the end of the year.