The Harbour City River Stewards, Nanaimo Recycling Exchange. South End Community Association and Vancouver Island University teamed up on Aug. 18 to remove 210 kilograms of garbage from the Chase River.
According to Dan Fox, organizer, some of the trash removed from the stream included a chesterfield, nine shopping carts, four bicycles, three scooters and a large pile of metal.
One of the participants removed bolt cutters wrapped in sweatpants, earning them a $25 gift certificate from Page Point Bistro in Ladysmith for the most unique item removed from Chase River.
Nanaimo Regional Landfill waived the tipping fees, and Quality Foods provided the river stewards with a gift certificate for the return of the shopping carts.
The Chase River is home to resident rainbow and coastal cutthroat trout and also provides habitat for spawning chum and coho salmon.
In 2011, approximately 400 coho and 3,000 chum returned to the Chase River to spawn, providing one of the strongest returns in recent history.
"As an urban stream the Chase River needs our help to keep it clean so that fish populations can continue to thrive there," added Fox. "It is efforts such as these by concerned citizens and stewards that continue to make Nanaimo a beautiful place to live."
The Harbour City River Stewards is a group of people dedicated to the restoration and conservation of salmon habitat and aquatic ecosystems in Nanaimo, including Millstone River, Chase River, Beck Creek and Departure Creek.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com