We worked on the 2019 Lake Hiawatha Trash Survey some more and added pictures
of all the different categories of trash collected from Lake Hiawatha and
included summaries of my visits with the Mayor and the Park Board. Also
included are responses from the top three Corporations represented in the trash
collected at Lake Hiawatha. All of the trash items cataloged here are from the
Earth Day cleanup. The cleanup was attended by 104 volunteers on April 20, 2019
and in 2.5 hours, 350 lbs of trash were removed. Amongst that trash 18,994
pieces of trash were cataloged. Since we started cleaning in 2015 we have
removed 6,920 lbs of trash and still there is no stormwater treatment in place
for the north pipe storm sewer system which brings the majority of this trash
into our beloved Lake Hiawatha. We are hoping that the City of Minneapolis and
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) will begin installing a
stormwater treatment system next winter 2020/2021. We have also asked the City
and the MPRB to hire new staff people to clean up trash from Lake Hiawatha. We
have not yet heard a response from either agency. Currently no agency monitors
trash or removes trash from Lake Hiawatha. That is why we have created this
document. It is only community volunteers that remove trash from the Lake. But
the quantity of trash is too great to address with only volunteers. Since the
City of Minneapolis created the infrastructure that delivers the trash to the
Lake and the MPRB is responsible to keep the parkland free of trash it is only
fair that we ask for a contribution of effort from these governing agencies
that are responsible for the stewardship of Lake Hiawatha.
This document is intended as a public resource to help highlight and quantify
local plastic and trash pollution issues. The state of Minnesota does not
regard trash as a pollutant.
Thanks!
Sean Connaughty and Friends of Lake Hiawatha.