Trash being tossed on Tuckasegee River bank
Barbara Robinson of Bryson City drives by the Tuckasegee River on a daily basis, but lately the peaceful view of the river has been interrupted by overflowing trash piling up on the riverbank.
Robinson said this is the second incident in which trash has been piling up behind the Super Saver in Bryson City. In January, Robinson noticed blue plastic bags all along the riverbank behind the business. She took pictures of the mess and reported it to the town.
Town Manager Larry Callicutt said he recalls the incident from January. He said he sent police out to Super Saver to ask management to get it cleaned up — and they did before any citation was issued.
Robinson said last week she noticed black plastic crates strewn on the riverbank behind the same business. She again took pictures of the mess on April 6 and the mess was still there on Monday, April 13.
As soon as he was informed of the situation, Callicutt again sent police out to Super Saver to get the trash cleaned up off the riverbank.
When people come to fish in the river or when they ride the train through Bryson City, Robinson said the last thing she wants them to see is trash piled up along the river.
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“Bryson City is going to be a Trout City,” Robinson said. “Why are we allowing this to happen to our river? It took years to get it clean — let’s keep it clean.”
Smoky Mountain News was unable to reach a manager at Super Saver for a comment despite many attempts in the last week. Two messages were not returned last week and the business’ line was busy all day Monday and Tuesday.
Roger Clapp, executive director of the Watershed Associations of the Tuckasegee River, said he went out to the grocery store on Monday when he received the complaint about trash dumping. He said the trash was still on the riverbank and he spoke to a manager about the issue.
“I talked to the manager at the moment and he’s frustrated,” Clapp said. “He said someone had cleaned it up but between distributors of Coke products and the wind, it was a mess again.”
Clapp said he recommended Super Saver put up a fence to keep trash from blowing out of the loading dock area and into the river. He said installing a T-post fence and stretching hog wire over it would be the easiest and least expensive fix.
Clapp said WATR’s policy was to always go to the source of the problem first to see if it could be corrected before taking any further action. In this case, he said he feels the business is willing to work toward a solution to keep trash out of the river.
While he said Super Saver is responsible for cleaning up trash in its own property, the watershed association will be holding a countywide cleanup on April 25 to pick up trash along the riverbank.
