Written by WCPO’s Jessica Hart
Teaming up with Kenton County Parks & Recreation staff, volunteers took to Doe Run Lake on Saturday in an effort to pick up trash as part of the Ohio River Sweep.
“We want to keep it as clean as we can. It’s a steady problem because of the flow into the lake,” said Rhonda Ritzi, recreation programs coordinator with Kenton County Parks and Recreation.
Ritzi said Doe Run is a popular lake for boating, kayaking, canoeing and hiking at the surrounding trails. The 50-acre lake sits along Bullock Pen Road off of KY-17.
She said all of the trash at the lake doesn’t just fall on the people who come here. People who litter along the highway are responsible as well.
“So, we have trash that runs in, just runoff from the hills or roads around,” Ritzi said. “As far as people coming and leaving trash, it happens sometimes as well.”
She added all of the trash at the lake is not good for the ecosystem.
“If we don’t clean this stuff up in the fishing lines, it could affect the fish in the lake as well,” she said.
Ritzi said their goal Sunday was not only to make the lake cleaner, but to also prevent trash collected in the lake from getting into the Ohio River.
Kenton County Parks & Recreation will have a second clean up event in September.
This story originally appeared on wcpo.com.