Dump Truck Full of Trash Removed from Prestige Marina Lakebed

Dump Truck Full of Trash Removed from Prestige Marina Lakebed

July 31st Cleanup Recap

On July 31st, 2021 we held the first of our summer and fall cleanups at the Prestige Marina in Nelson, BC. The cleanup was a huge success, with 22 volunteers helping us to load an entire dump truck FULL of garbage!

At just before 9am, volunteers began to gather at the Prestige Marina and divers prepped to enter the water in search of garbage to be hooked and pulled to the surface by those in the boats and on the docks. It was not long before large items were being pulled to the surface, and from 9am – 1pm, the amount of trash being pulled up never slowed down.

Some of the larger items found on the lakebed included shopping carts, large tires, scrap metal, camping chairs and large blocks of waterlogged polystyrene foam. Perhaps the most unusual find of the day were stacks upon stacks of old municipal license plates. Not all of the stacks of license plates were brought up because there were so many, but we hope to get them next time. Unfortunately, they seem to have been deliberately dropped, with some stacks appearing close to the bridge.

 

We had snacks, refreshments and pizza after completing our cleanup to celebrate our success. However, there is still work to be done, and we will be planning another lakebed cleanup this fall.

We’d like to extent a thank you to all of our awesome volunteers, our four divers Jay, Bruce, Cam and Chad, WKBA, KLSA, Thor’s Pizza, Arcright Welding, Mountain Bin and a special thanks to Save-On-Foods for donating snacks.

We would also like to thank Prestige Resort and the City of Nelson for allowing us to park the truck and for offering to help with dumping expenses!

Upcoming Cleanups

Our next cleanup is on Thursday, August 12th, from 6-8pm. We will be cleaning another popular area in Nelson, the Lakeside Dog Walk. This will be strictly a shoreline cleanup, so we encourage everyone to participate as there is no maximum amount of volunteers we can have! You can find a link to more details and to register for this cleanup here.

A Huge Thank You to our Sponsors

We would like to thank the funders of our Shoreline Restoration and Cleanup Program Nelson and District Credit Union, Regional District Central Kootenay, Columbia Basin Trust, Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program and Unsmoke Canada.