Trash in Piedmont Park's lake leaves questions about its maintenance (Atlanta: how much, neighborhood)

[LynnHarris1]

Before catching a flight back to Germany, a tourist took time to snap an iconic Atlanta picture: the skyline reflected in the lake at Piedmont Park.

The park was a quiet oasis that October day, but the man and his wife noticed more than the view. Bobbing along the top of the waters of Lake Clara Meer was a pair of jeans, a Chick-fil-A cup and a lint roller lodged in thick green algae..."

FULL STORY: https://www.ajc.com/news/local/trash...NJnblPbkPcjMN/

SOURCE: AJC

[Gulch]

People are friggin slobs

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Gulch

People are friggin slobs

It was kind of funny after the "Green concerts" they had with Paul McCartney and the Eagles a few years back, Piedmont Park was just trashed. Litter everywhere.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Gulch

People are friggin slobs

Some of them sure are. What kind of mindset leads somebody to throw their trash on the ground in the city's premier park?

[turkeydance]

drugs do that.

[ATLTJL]

Well, it says drains lead to the lake. I don't know how much of the areas drainage it handles. But it's possible that people who throw trash on the street on nearby roads contribute to the problem when rain washes that trash into gutters. Basically, anything on the street ends up in the lake is what it sounds like.

That can come from purposeful littering, but also include things like wind blowing trash out of receptacles and sanitation workers spilling some of it when they come pick it up.

The bottom line is we all have to take active roles in managing our trash all the time, no matter where we are.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Some of them sure are. What kind of mindset leads somebody to throw their trash on the ground in the city's premier park?

Good question. I suppose it is the way they are raised. The stories I've heard...


People can have a lake in their subdivision and pour chemicals into the lake and it's like...who does that?! Or you will be somewhere in Atlanta and see trash cans to the left and right of a person and that person chooses to throw their trash on the floor.

[fourthwarden]

I hope Atlanta, city and metro, get better at maintaining its urban waterways.

I went to Tanyard Creek Park the other day, and it just made me sad to see all the garbage there, tangled in the trees and rocks. Not to mention the warning signs telling you not to swim in it. The same story when I walked the Proctor Creek Greenway, or visited the Morningside Nature Preserve, or go along Clear Creek by the NorthEast BeltLine, or when I'd walk the creek that runs through Orme Park.

Such potential is just so harshly tarnished by the mismanagement, both current and left over from an era when people cares so much less.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

I hope Atlanta, city and metro, get better at maintaining its urban waterways.

I went to Tanyard Creek Park the other day, and it just made me sad to see all the garbage there, tangled in the trees and rocks. Not to mention the warning signs telling you not to swim in it. The same story when I walked the Proctor Creek Greenway, or visited the Morningside Nature Preserve, or go along Clear Creek by the NorthEast BeltLine, or when I'd walk the creek that runs through Orme Park.

Such potential is just so harshly tarnished by the mismanagement, both current and left over from an era when people cares so much less.

Tanyard Creek, Clear Creek, and Proctor Creek are all outfalls of the City's Combined Sewer Overflow system. Unfortuantely the cost to separate the remaining CSOs is too high and will remained combined.
Much of the litter we find in our urban streams are a result of runoff from our streets.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

I hope Atlanta, city and metro, get better at maintaining its urban waterways.

I went to Tanyard Creek Park the other day, and it just made me sad to see all the garbage there, tangled in the trees and rocks. Not to mention the warning signs telling you not to swim in it. The same story when I walked the Proctor Creek Greenway, or visited the Morningside Nature Preserve, or go along Clear Creek by the NorthEast BeltLine, or when I'd walk the creek that runs through Orme Park.

Such potential is just so harshly tarnished by the mismanagement, both current and left over from an era when people cares so much less.

Took the words out of my mouth. Lake Clara Meer isn't exactly a place you'd want to take a dip, but it's understandable given that is in the middle of the busiest park in the city in the middle of the city's highest density neighborhood.

Also, if people think this is really bad they should see how urban waterways fare in other cities.