Clear Creek cleanup day June 14

Telltale blue-green plastic grocery bags, scattered wrappers and boxes litter the dirt hillside facing Fuji Park and Carson City Fairgrounds.

The leftovers of Wal-Mart customers, blown by strong winds into the park over the past year, will be the focus of this year's Clear Creek Cleanup Day June 14.

The banks of the fresh-flowing creek are dotted with cups, receipts and plastic wrap either from visitors or the nearby store.

Clear Creek Watershed Council expects at least 50 volunteers this year in the effort to keep the creek's watershed area clean and free of trash.

"We've been trying really hard to keep the creek clear and pristine and (Wal-Mart litter) doesn't help," said Sharon Arnold, a member of the Clear Creek Watershed Council which organizes the yearly event.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Hill said the store had not received complaints about the trash, but store managers are considering adding an employee to work with a regular full-time worker who cleans the parking lot.

Hill said the company would try to contact the group to offer help in cleaning up the creek area and was looking into installing fences on the north side of the property to catch the garbage before it is blown over the side of the embankment.

"We would be happy to work with friends of Clear Creek to ensure we preserve the watershed area as well," Hill said. "It is a windy area, and some of that is nature's issue. We certainly don't want to add to any problems."

Arnold said this year's cleanup event will also focus on removing graffiti from the Oxbow area, a pond that is used by some to dump unwanted trash and equipment.

Last year, a dryer and snowblower were removed from the area and volunteers found empty beer bottles, old mattresses and cans. More than 80 volunteers spent the morning cleaning up 10 tons of garbage and planted 150 willows and cottonwoods along the creek at the west end of the park.

Cleanup will start at 8 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. Breakfast and hot dogs, potato chips and drinks will be provided to volunteers.

Anyone interested is encouraged to show up at the park across from Costco on Old Clear Creek Road off Highway 395.

Call Glenn Lemon at 782-3661, ext. 102.

IF YOU GO

What: Clear Creek Cleanup

When: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. June 14

Where: Clear Creek, meet at Fuji Park