Volunteers to collect trash at Minnehaha Creek and Chain of Lakes
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One thousand volunteers are expected on Sunday to join an effort to clean up Minnehaha Creek and several surrounding lakes in Minneapolis.
The annual event will take be centered at Lake Hiawatha in south Minneapolis, from where volunteers will be shuttled to sites along the creek as well as the shorelines of Lakes Calhoun, Harriet and Nokomis.
The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is organizing the cleanup effort and hopes to collect 2 tons of trash, said spokeswoman Telly Mamayek.
"It is a goal that we met last year, and we're hoping to equal that this year. Frankly, we expect to surpass that. Based on the recent storms that hit the area, we're expecting to see more trash and debris that were churned up by the wind and the waves," she said.
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Trash can harm the creek and related waters in many ways, Mamayek said.
"Trash is just like any pollution. Once it gets washed into our water systems it can impede wildlife, it can leech chemicals into the water, and it really harms the aesthetic beauty of our water resources, so we want to get as much of that trash out of the system as possible," she said.
Besides picking up trash, volunteers will also collect downed tree branches from the recent storm to help city officials with their ongoing cleanup effort, Mamayek said.
The event takes place from 9 to noon and ends with a free lunch and weighing of the trash at Lake Hiawatha Park. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., plans to attend.
