CORDOVA — What do a muffler, a swimming pool liner and a busted kayak have in common?
They were among the items found during a cleanup around the Cordova access point along Hitchcock Creek — the last stop on the paddle trail before the creek empties into the Pee Dee River.
Fourteen volunteers from von Drehle Corp. joined members of the Creek Runners Club to pick up trash in the area Saturday morning.
Scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., some of the volunteers arrived early and started the cleanup, which was primarily finished by 10:15.
Sonny Aycoth, one of the organizers, said he was impressed with the turnout.
“I’ve done ‘em on the creek, and you get five (volunteers),” he said.
Larry Roberts paddled his kayak across the narrow creek to clean up along the sandy bank, as others were scattered throughout the area.
More than 20 bags of garbage were collected, not including the five full bags of trash that had already been dumped at the site.
Volunteers picked up tires, bottles, straws and other detritus, saying the only place there wasn’t any trash was near the trashcan. The swimming pool liner was found under the bridge and the kayak was found on a nearby hill. There was also a rusted burning barrel, which they left where it was.
During the cleanup, they also found evidence of drug activity, including multiple plastic baggies that had been ripped open and two bottles used as “shake-and-bake” meth labs — one with plastic tubing attached.
Deputies from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office came out to investigate and were waiting on a detective as the rest of the refuse was taken to the nearby dump.
Four meth bottles were found during an earlier creak cleanup at the access point on Midway Road earlier this month.
Organizers had planned to pick up in that area after Zach Long saw what he called a “wall of trash” near the dam, but were beat to the punch after an article on Long’s discovery prompted officials at Cascades Tissue Group to take action.
Aycoth said “you couldn’t ask for a better place” to be, where local companies take part in keeping the community clean — or as Rockingham Mayor Steve Morris described them, “good corporate citizens.”
“I’m thankful we’ve still got those plants in this county,” Aycoth said.
Pete Howe, plant engineer at von Drehle, said he’s planning to have the hillside trash on the plant side of the creek picked up within the next week.
Looking around, he added, “This could be a pretty area with a nice picnic area for the whole community.”
Both Howe and Katie Hartgrove, another event organizer, said a cleanup needs to be done at least once a year.
Hartgrove said she’d rather it be done during the colder months to avoid snakes, “and so we’re not pestered by the mosquitoes.”
“Next thing that needs cleaned up, in my eyes, is the river,” said Aycoth. However, nothing has yet been planned.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.
