Fourth Of July Partiers Leave Big Mess On Lake Minnetonka
MINNETONKA, Minn. (WCCO) -- Some Minnesotans celebrate Independence Day on land, but many mark the holiday by heading onto the water.
While it's fun to be out boating on the Fourth of July, the celebration left quite the mess behind on parts of Lake Minnetonka.
For years, hundreds of people have spent the holiday floating around Big Island on the lake.
People living in the area say in the past couple of years the trash has become a major problem.
On Tuesday, crews cleaned up a lot of trash.
"We are just volunteering our time to go out and do it," said Melissa Waskiewiscz of the Lake Minnetonka Association. "Someone has to do it."
Josh Leddy and his crew from Life's A Beach Shoreline Services teamed up with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol and Tonka Bay Marina to clean up the lake. They started the effort last year after boaters and residents around the lake complained about all the trash left behind from Fourth of July.
"It makes the water gross, unsafe," Waskiewiscz said. "Usually you can swim and go to beaches at Big Island, but with all garbage there don't want to."
Waskiewiscz estimates crews picked up nearly a ton of trash last year, mostly beer cans.
It's a problem that's deeper than what meets the eye, as it helps create an environment where zebra mussels can grow.
"They can't breed on sand," Waskiewiscz said. "So giving them bottles, cans and garbage gives them new place to breed."
The teams of volunteers hope putting more pictures of the mess out there will inspire people using the public areas of the island to clean up after themselves.
Crews will be out on the lake three more time this summer cleaning up.