From Guest Author, A.D. Admire


All the years that my family and I have been going to Pomme de Terre lake and using their numerous boat ramps, it was always my impression that Pomme basically was a very clean and litter free lake. On occasions, there would be empty pop and beer cans lying in the roadway leading to the boat ramp, but most people put their trash in the trash containers provided at the ramps. While fishing or boating on the lake it was rare to see a floating bottle, can, or other litter in the water.


Last week my son and I went looking for morel mushrooms, but with little success in the woods, we thought the wooded area with its numerous elm trees, live and dead, adjacent to one of the boat ramps might be productive, so we proceeded to look for morels.


As I got further away from the boat ramp, litter became visible and as I walked the tree line adjacent to the shore, it became a veritable treasure of discarded items. It was apparent that this area had been the recipient of litter for years by the many rusted cans, faded beer and pop cans and hundreds of glass bottles with out labels, but interspersed with this litter was more recent items that included fresh litter. The area included litter that had arrived and was deposited beyond the normal water level the several years when Pomme had more than a full pool of water. The litter area extended for almost one half mile into the woods along the shoreline.




Also among the glass containers, aluminum cans and rusted steel cans was a plethora of litter which contained remnants of Styrofoam used for boat docks, articles of clothing, shoes, and many unidentifiable items. It was apparent that the prevalent water and wind currents had this particular area of the lake as their primary deposit area. There were no signs that it had been specifically targeted as a dumping ground from some of the surrounding home sites. The pattern of litter was too random and not piled into heaps.


I wish I could say it was a fertile ground for morels, but, alas, it was barren, although I did find some Trilliums starting to bloom tucked away into a shady little area that actually had rich earth and a tiny spring. My thoughts as I left the area and rejoined my son [he was in a different area, but still no morels] were a curiosity whether the Corp of Engineers knew about a blot on this beautiful lake and if I should tell them of my discovery. I felt that if I was a retiree living in that area with nothing to do but watch TV and cut my grass, I would be in that area everyday with several trash bags to pick up litter. It would probably take several months of daily trips to clean most of it up. I also wondered if that was the tip of the iceberg and there were other litter areas similar to this one along the lake shoreline. My final thought was how did all of that litter get deposited, accidentally, or was it deliberate acts of littering by people on and along the lake?



Below are some additional resources on conservation:
Save on Home Energy
Make Your Own Solar Energy!


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