News

**update! The location has been changed to Jack Smith Creek.

Lower Neuse Riverkeeper Katy Hunt has been scouting sampling locations for an installation to de-trash local waterways, and aid in research.

She found an ideal site at Lawson Creek, a tributary of the Trent and Neuse rivers.

“This is the future site of our Trash Trout that will be collecting floating litter and preventing it from entering Lawson Creek Park. The Trash Trout is part of our ongoing microplastics project to better understand the plastic problem in our river basins,” Katy said.

Trash Trouts are purpose-built stormwater litter traps, made to funnel larger trash into a receptacle, rather than letting it continue to flow downstream. A Trash Trout resembles a cage floating on pontoons, anchored by booms attached to the waterway’s banks.

Katy said the installation of the Trash Trout on Lawson Creek will be a volunteer opportunity in the future.

“Once installed, we will need volunteers to keep an eye on it and empty it out from time to time or after big rain events,” Katy said. “Lawson Creek Park is a site where we often do river cleanups, and there never seems to be a shortage of trash to collect.”

A second Trash Trout will be installed on Jack’s Creek in Washington, and third site in the Raleigh area will be identified in the near future.