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The group was small, but intrepid.

Five Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant employees and two Sound Rivers staff members teamed up to clean up about a half a mile of stream and a wetland in Rocky Mount in observance of Earth Day.

Along the way, they picked up 323 pounds of trash mostly comprised of glass and plastic bottles, motor oil and fast-food containers, but did include some oddities: a fire extinguisher, three child-size bike frames with tires, the back side of a very large flatscreen TV, two footballs, a basketball, a baseball bat and a vacuum cleaner.

“In my 23 years of river cleanups, I’ve never come across a fire extinguisher, or a vacuum for that matter,” said Executive Director Heather Deck, who, along with Program Director Clay Barber, was part of the Sound Rivers cleanup team.

In the end, the garbage collected was overflowing the bed of the Sound Rivers work truck.

Friday’s cleanup was the sixth that Sound Rivers and Cummins have partnered for over the past several years, as part of Cummins’ Water Works program.

Like the work Sound Rivers is doing to keep your waterways litter-free? We LOVE it! Donate today to support the work!