Chemours employees celebrate one of the large piles of litter they collected at a cleanup held in January 2022 following the Waverly, Tenn. floods in 2021.

Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) will hold its ninth volunteer cleanup in Waverly, Tenn. this Friday, April 8, from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. in the third leg of the nonprofit’s ‘Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO.’

Since October 2020, KTNRB has partnered with local groups in the Humphreys County community to host eight cleanups on the Tennessee River at the mouth of Trace Creek, where the 2021 floods ran off and a previous significant flood came through in 2019.

In all, 65 volunteers removed 27,433 lbs. of trash at those eight cleanups. Of those cleanups, staff from the local Chemours plant participated in three cleanups designated specifically for their employees, pulling a total of 10,645 lbs. of trash.

“Chemours is one of the most active companies that we’ve worked with as far as river cleanup attendance goes, and it’s been fun to clean the river with such an enthusiastic group,” said Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director for KTNRB. “We’re grateful that Chemours has supported our work with their volunteer force and by helping us to improve our fleet with donations.”

Grey Collier and other Chemours employees cleanup litter at a cleanup held in January 2022 following the Waverly, Tenn. floods in 2021.

Earlier this year, Chemours donated $3,000 to KTNRB to purchase new tires for their Ford F-250 that hauls the river group’s 26-foot work boat. The donation will also fund an art wrap for the truck.

Gibi said that good tread on their truck’s tires is essential since the group is frequently hauling a wet boat and trailer out of the water with thousands of pounds of trash on it. The new tires have already been installed and Gibi said that KTNRB will work on the truck’s art wrap when their cleanup schedule slows down.

Just in 2022, KTNRB has already rallied 138 volunteers to remove 40,755 lbs. of trash at 13 cleanups held in four states. In 2021, Chemours donated $2,000 to KTNRB to install a truck bed cover to keep their life vests and other equipment dry. It was in 2021 that KTNRB set its new record of 152,000 lbs. of trash removed by more than 700 volunteers.

"Chemours is happy to have had the opportunity to support and build a relationship with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful," said Plant Manager C.J. Hilton. "Their work and dedication to cleaning up the river is an ongoing effort that benefits us all, and we look forward to continuing to partner with them in the future.”

At the cleanup on Friday that will launch from the boat ramp at Pebble Isle Marina, KTNRB will be reinforced by the national nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, who will bring their five additional boats to supplement KTNRB’s boat.

There are still plenty of seats on the boats and with all of the flood debris that came from Trace Creek, volunteers are very much needed! Every volunteer will be given free work gloves, a t-shirt, and a stainless steel water bottle to take home. Life vests will also be provided during the cleanup.

Volunteers can register for the Waverly river cleanup at www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/waverly.

KTNRB is able to fund the additional boats and crew from Living Lands & Waters during the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series through grants from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation’s ‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee’ litter prevention campaign.

The final cleanup in the Tennessee River Grand Slam Cleanup Series presented by AFTCO will be held on Saturday, April 9, in Paris, Tenn.

For more information on upcoming cleanups with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful, visit www.KeepTNRiverBeautiful.org/upcomingcleanups.