Jordan Lake - Litter

Litter

In 2008, Thomas Colson, a private citizen, engaged the community surrounding Jordan Lake in awareness of a massive litter problem in the lake. Early estimates put the number of discarded tires in the lake in the thousands, with approximately 40 acre feet (49,000 m3) of trash choking the sensitive aquatic habitats along the shoreline, much of which is the nesting habitat for many Bald Eagles that inhabit the lake property. Following extensive media coverage of the litter issue, Colson organized a volunteer clean up in late 2008 and followed up with the formation of Clean Jordan Lake, a North Carolina non-profit corporation with the assistance of Fran DiGiano, a retired professor of the Dept. of Environmental Sciences & Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Early in 2010 Clean Jordan Lake hosted its first clean up with the assistance of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, hauling out an unprecedented volume of litter and tires in a few short hours. The event was attended by many dignitaries from both the Corps and North Carolina State Government.

The problem of litter and storm water debris within the lake remains today and poses a serious threat to the drinking water supply of area communities. On September 14, 2010, over 150 GlaxoSmithKline employees volunteered their time to pull approximately four large dumpsters of trash from the lake in less than four hours. The amount of litter surrounding the Jordan Lake Shoreline remains a threat to the riparian buffer which helps maintain water quality, a problem recognized by the numerous agencies tasked with the management of the lake and its surrounding land.