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Sound Rivers Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz and Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop enlisted some help for an Adkin Branch trash trap cleanout this week.

Lenoir Community College biology students met up with the Sound Rivers team on Wednesday and got an education in Sound Rivers and the work being done to protect rivers and their tributaries.

“The students were very interested in the role stormwater plays in carrying litter and other pollutants from our communities into our creeks. Since the area has not seen much rain lately, there was not much trash in the trap, but we still pulled about five pounds of litter from the trap itself. We also collected an additional   seven pounds of trash from the banks and around the area,” Sam said.

Most of the trash pulled from the trap was plastic.

“It’s another illustration of the issue with single-use plastics that so dominate consumer products,” Sam said.

“The students also helped us take an E. coli sample and a YSI reading to get a better understanding of the health and water quality in Adkin branch,” Sam said.

The students are part of Lenoir Community College instructor Maria Messner’s biology class. Sound Rivers has partnered with the college and Messner to document water quality in Adkin Branch over time.

“This is just another way that Sound Rivers is working with the local community to care for Adkin Branch and the Neuse River downstream,” Sam said.