PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Cleanup crews pulled thousands of pounds of trash from the Salt River following a busy weekend, including an item that has environmental officials concerned.
Volunteers and state workers recovered 2,500 pounds of trash during the recent cleanup. Among the debris: 39 phones, three umbrellas, one hamster cage and 22 pounds of vapes.
The vapes are drawing health concerns from state officials.
“I was seeing all of this trash after a fun three-day weekend, my heart was so sad because it is, it’s really upsetting that people treat the environment that way,” said Meghan Smart from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Smart said the batteries and vapes can leak chemicals into the water that eventually flows to Valley cities.
“There’s chemicals. You’re introducing that into our waterway, which a wastewater treatment plant has to clean out, a drinking water supply system has to clean out,” she explained. “Really, we need to protect our streams and our lakes because they’re our water sources.”
Crews recovered 39 phones, three umbrellas, one hamster cage and 22 pounds of vapes during a recent cleanup at the Salt River.(Arizona Department of Environmental Quality)
Smart said she had never seen that many vapes recovered from the water before.
Crews also found typical items like sunglasses, phones and unfinished drinks during the cleanup.
With a holiday weekend approaching, state officials are urging people to throw trash into trash cans at the river or pack out what they pack in. Officials also encourage people to collect trash if they see it.
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