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Pamlico-Tar Riverkeeper Katey Zimmerman, Stormwater Education Coordinator/Resilience Corps NC AmeriCorps member Sierra Stickney and Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz set up at Town Commons last week to share what Sound Rivers is and what they do to protect the waterways.

The Tar River Community Science Festival was held last Saturday at the riverside park in Greenville. Hosted by East Carolina University’s Water Resources Center, more than two dozen organizations were on hand to talk about water quality and how to get involved in community science.

“The goal of the event was to get more community members involved in science and water quality on the Tar River,” Katey said.

For Katey, Sierra and Emily, that meant promoting Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program and ways people can volunteer to clean out a growing fleet of trash traps on tributaries of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico. Since Litter-Free Rivers was launched in 2022, volunteers and staff have removed more than three tons of trash from these waterways.

Katey also used the opportunity to talk about an upcoming public hearing regarding the renewal of a mining wastewater discharge permit that will be hosted by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality on Nov. 19. Read more about Martin Marietta Materials’ request to renew the permit that could potentially destroy the entire Blounts Creek ecosystem here.