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Cavers Assist In Cleanup Project November 22, 2004 The 34 volunteers removed materials that had the quantity and variety of an appliance store, including a deep-freeze, a refrigerator, three pairs of washers and dryers, a stove, two lawnmowers, plus a golf cart, several boxsprings, a couch, chair, table and parts of two automobiles. The volunteers wrestled the items up steep slopes at the Hart County property where they were moved by trailer or tractor to a dumpster on the site. Smaller items of metal, plastic, paper, glass and fabric, including a teddy bear and a large number of shingles from a dumped roof, were hauled out as well. Numerous tires, car batteries and two five-gallon drums of discarded motor oil were also recovered from a slope above the Green River. "If they hadn't been cleaned up, contaminants such as the motor oil and acids from the car batteries could have leached directly into the river," said WKU's Ouida Meier, a co-director of the preserve. "Not only is the Green River a popular destination for boating and fishing, it's very well-known for its highly diverse aquatic life, especially fish and mussels." The cleanup team included ACCA members, members of the National Speleological Society (including the Hart of Kentucky grotto, Green River grotto, Dayton Underground grotto, Wittenberg University Speleological Society and Bluegrass grotto), Boy Scouts, Wittenberg University students from Springfield, Ohio, and Western Kentucky University students and faculty. The use of a 20-cubic-yard roll-off dumpster was donated by Jerry Matera of Hart County Solid Waste, which frequently donates dumpsters for ACCA cleanup projects. The group hopes to recycle the metals collected. The filled dumpster had a volume of waste comparable to more than 5,000 gallon containers of water. "We're very grateful for the help of these skilled volunteers," Meier said. "We've cleaned up several old dump sites on the preserve since we acquired it almost a year ago, but this site was particularly challenging because of the steepness of the slopes and the number of large, heavy appliances that had to be hauled out. These volunteers did an amazing job, and we really appreciate the efforts of the American Cave Conservation Association and Hart County Solid Waste in making the event happen." In addition to projects like this one, undertaken by volunteers and donors, there are many options for cleanup of illegal dumps, including $5 million in state funds available as grants to counties for illegal dump cleanup and litter abatement through the solid waste environmental remediation law. Citizens can find out more about how to clean up illegal dumps, as well as proper disposal of current waste and hazardous materials, at the Kentucky Division of Waste Management website at http://www.waste.ky.gov/programs/rcla/ or by calling (502) 564-6716. ACCA sponsors sinkhole cleanups twice a year. To participate in a future ACCA cleanup, contact Dave Foster at (270) 786-1466 or acca@cavern.org. To find out more about the Upper Green River Biological Preserve, contact Dr. Ouida Meier at (270) 745-6001 or ouida.meier@wku.edu.
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