Bayou Lafourche Cleanup

BTNEP CLEAN UP BAYOU LAFOURCHE EVENT SUCCESSFUL

The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) would like to thank all the volunteers that came out to the Clean Bayou Lafourche Event this Saturday, March 31st. The event was a huge success with over 1200 volunteers cleaning from Donaldsonville to Leeville…Volunteers picked up items from plastic bottles to tires. Odd items found included a bowling ball, a fireproof safe, a 30-gallon water heater and a MRE.

NOLA Pyrate Week was proud to be part o’ this hard working group o’ volunteers as our small but mighty crew volunteered to take on one o’ the hottest (and most hazardous) areas – the roadway surrounding the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (part o’ the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve). Making a hot day even hotter (over 100° F), crouching down to gather hundreds o’ cigarette butts, tin cans, broken bottles, six pack rings, snack bags…and a multitude more in-organic human waste. While this is a hazard to both the environment, ecosystem and wildlife on land, around the Bayou it falls into the watershed and the wetlands creating an even bigger problem. Garbage tossed mindlessly from vehicles on and off the water is a hazard to ALL living things…the water in Thibodaux comes from the Bayou, but if it becomes polluted, what then? This is a common problem everywhere – not just Louisiana – and affects us all.

We must remember that we are not the masters o’ this world, but it’s caretakers. Take care – recycle where ye can, put trash in it’s place, notify someone in charge if ye see a problem so it may be dealt with!