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Description
Asheville Greenworks and WNC Alliance held their 2012 NC Big Sweep River Cleanup on September 29, 2012. Volunteers met up and cleaned 15 miles of the French Broad River and its tributaries.
A
He
had
a
Sierra
Nevada,
sponsored
event
with
our
friends
at
a
BNC
Alliance,
where
we
did
a
massive
River
cleanup.
It
was
a
15-mile
cleanup
of
french
broad
river
mud,
creek,
clear
creek
mills
river.
We
did
a
few
of
the
tributary
cleanups
as
well,
but
that
was
the
was
most
of
it
as
a
probably
the
largest
cleanup
of
the
year.
It's
here,
Nevada
approached
debian,
see
Alliance
and
Nashville
greenworks
to
do
a
massive
River
cleanup.
We
always
do
one
in
september-october.
It's
called
the
NC
big
sweep
it's
the
largest
clean.
A
If
we
do
every
year,
but
Sierra
Nevada
tapped
into
us
beforehand,
it's
that
they
would
like
to
see
if
they
can
broaden
the
event
for
us,
you
know:
can
they
can
they
partner
with
us?
One
of
Sierra
Nevadas
main
goals
is
water
quality.
You
know
they're
they're
putting
a
very
large
operation
in
Asheville,
and
this
is
one
way
that
they
want
to
get
back
as
they
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
beautiful
water
quality
here,
because
they
understand
that
a
clean
River
can
be
used
by
everyone
and
we
we
all
live
downstream.
A
It's
basically
one
of
the
one
of
the
goals
of
hearing
about
its
clean
water,
clean
usable
water.
I
should
say
that
everyone
can
get
in
and
play
in.
We
met
up
at
nine
o'clock
the
westfeld
river
park,
which
is
just
over
the
the
line
it's
in
Fletcher's
beautiful
park.
It's
a
great
boat
launch.
We
had
about
98
volunteers
showed
up.
We
had
something
in
area
of
about
forty
eight
boats,
I
believe,
and
we
basically
separated
at
that
point.
A
We
sent
groups
to
different
sections
of
the
french
broad
to
Mud
Creek
Clear
Creek
mills
river,
and
we
basically
did
a
floating
walking
dragging
toting,
hauling
River
cleanup.
So
the
volunteers
were
great.
We
had
a
great
mix
of
volunteers
from
debian,
see
Alliance
and
Asheville
greenworks
regulars.
We
had
folks,
it's
come
out
from
all
over
the
county
to
participate
in
the
cleanup,
so
it
was
most
98
volunteers.
They
range
from
16
years
old,
I,
think
the
oldest
volunteer
was
80.
A
We
had
professionals,
we
had
college
students,
just
a
just
a
whole
range
of
folks
who
are
interested
in
River,
a
lot
of
paddlers,
a
lot
of
people
who
are
in
environmental
studies
and
just
Joe
Blow,
who
says
you
know
I
care
about
water
quality
and
I
want
to
give
you
guys
a
hand.
I
think
this
is
very
worthy
cause.
It's.
B
Something
we
enjoy
doing,
and
you
know
it's
something
that
we
can
give
back
to
the
the
planet
on
whom
we
so
heavily
rely.
But
it's
that
the
river
is
a
resource.
That's
easy
to
take
advantage
of
you
know.
One
of
our
stops
is
right
at
the
pickup
point
for
the
mills
river
water
facility
and-
and
you
know
it's
not
good-
to
throw
your
trash
in
your
drinking
water.
We.
A
Got
out
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
items,
we've
got
something
I
think
it
was
48
tires
were
pulled
out,
maybe
about
50
or
so
different
types
of
balls
like
that
basketballs
baseball,
softballs
and
so
evidently
there's
a
there's
a
park
nearby.
That's
been
sending
a
lot
of
different
balls,
but
we
plan
on
taking
the
best
of
those
and
donating
them
to
our
friends
at
brother,
wolf
for
the
animals
to
play
with
one
of
the
big
cleanups
was
mills
river,
and
we
found
newspaper
boxes.
A
We
found
three
separate
newspaper
boxes
that
someone
had
had
stolen,
taking
the
money
out
of
and
then
dumped,
so
those
were
really
difficult
to
pull
out.
We
actually
had
the
local
farmer
who
saw
us
out
there
working.
He
pulled
his
front
end
loader
over
there
and
was
able
to
help
us
pull
those
out
of
the
river.
So
that
was
really
was
really
nice.
But
it's
it's
a
myriad
of
items.
A
You
see
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
soda
cans
and
soda
bottles,
beer
bottles,
beer
cans,
things
like
that
mix
of
things,
car
parts,
pallets
construction,
material,
basically
anything
that
you
have
to
take
responsibility
for
it.
That's
what
we're
finding
we
put
together.
Really
nice
clean
up,
Sierra
Nevada
came
through
with
quite
a
lot
of
sponsorship.
They
brought
up
beverages,
food
from
Lou,
ellos
barbecue,
which
was
amazing.
Then
they
also
brought
in
another
brewery
from
Hendersonville
called
southern
Appalachian
brownie.
One
thing
that
Sierra
Nevada
is
famous
for
is
when
they
move
into
an
area.
A
Is
they
like
to
involve
the
local
microbrews
in
all
of
their
operations?
They
don't
want
to
shut
anyone
out
because
there's
enough
business
for
everybody,
so
they
brought
in
southern
appalachian
brewing.
That
was
andy
and
kelly
kubin
the
owners
and
they
were
happy
to
sponsor
the
event
as
well.
So
it
was.
It
turned
out
to
be
a
wonderful
day.
Well,.