Colossal cleanup on the Conococheague: Dad rids creek of tons of trash so daughter can fish

When Eric Grace decided to clean up trash in the Conococheague Creek so he and his daughter could go fishing, he never expected just how much garbage had accumulated in it.

That's how the Franklin County Creek Cleanup Project took root almost three years ago.

"When spring hit, we went down and got into the creek to show her the crayfish and minnows," he said. "I stood up and was looking around, and you couldn't see anywhere where there wasn't trash. I really didn't want my kid in there. We went to a different spot — the same thing."

Grace, of Fayetteville, couldn't believe how the waterway could have gotten so trashed without anyone taking action.

"The more trash I saw, I did what everybody else does — say, 'why isn't somebody doing something about this?'" he said. "About two weeks later it hit me, so I did something about it."

He sure has.

Grace can be spotted as often as a few days a week wading through the Conococheague to pull out literal tons of trash. It's the continued support from the locals that encourages him to go out even on the coldest days of the year.

"We've gotten so much support with it, and I made a commitment to it," he said. "Typically, I would shut down in the winter months, but we've got so much momentum going, I didn't want to lose that."

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Generations of trash littering the Conococheague 

Grace and his dedicated volunteers host group cleanups with about 15-20 people every month. Everything from televisions, air conditioners, couches and even an old Coca-Cola bottle with a Chambersburg stamp on the bottom of it have been pulled out of the Conococheague.

His daughter and his girlfriend's daughter — both 12 — usually tag along as well.

"Even the last one we went out together it was cold; it was miserable," he said. "I don't know what the temperature it was. It was raining, but we all wanted to do it so we got out there and we only went three-quarters of a mile. In those three-quarters of a mile, we pulled out 22 tires, an air conditioner and a refrigerator door. It's unbelievable."

There are literally generations of trash that has sunk into the creek bed, Grace said. Although some groups may have sponsored creek cleanups in the past, usually it's just the bank trash that's gathered.

"I know for a fact there was a shopping cart lying off the Lincoln Way bridge since I was 13-years-old and I pulled it out when I was 39-years-old," he said. "Nobody's done what we're doing. They clean up the banks, they pick up what they can carry, but nobody's actually dropped boats in there."

Sam Thrush, president of Downtown Chambersburg, Inc., is thankful people like Grace have stepped up to make a difference.

"It's great to see some of these old items being pulled up from the creek," he said. "It's great to see folks taking initiative and creating something to fill the gap. Before, we haven't really had an organization like Eric's to go out — it seems like he's almost out there every day — to get the stream and the creeks cleaned up."

A clean community can help attract prospective businesses and customers to the area, according to Thrush.

"'Clean' is one of the three parts of the overall pillar called 'Safe, Clean and Green' for downtown revitalization," Thrush said. "So, if we're able to achieve at least one of those three aspects — if we are able to at least achieve 'clean,' we're a whole lot better off than achieving none of them."

Thrush hopes to get into the creek himself at one of the upcoming cleanups this year to lend a hand.

"Eric, what he's doing — not just here in downtown, but all across the greater community — is great work," Thrush said.

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Now a nonprofit, the goal is to expand

Just before Christmas, Grace obtained nonprofit status for the Franklin County Creek Cleanup Project. He's hoping that as a nonprofit, he will be able to gather more donations for equipment and trucks that can streamline the process.

"Right now, we're dragging boats," he said. "We're usually going upstream and when you get to these areas where the water is maybe 30 feet deep and you have 300 or 400 pounds in a boat with four or five people pushing and straining — it's tough."

It's time-consuming work that tires out his crew.

"After that people are beat and need to sit down," he said. "Then you lose volunteers because they're like 'oh, this is way worse than I thought it was.'" 

The community has already raised money for a larger truck to help carry trash to the dump. In the future, Grace hopes to be able to raise funds for an Argo.

"It's an eight-wheeled amphibious vehicle," he said. "They started at like $12,000. That could pull our boats, it can go on land or in water and drive up and down the banks." 

The Argo would be a game-changer for creek revitalization. 

"It would mean the difference between months to clean a section to weeks," Grace said.

Grace goes out often with a core group of people to haul out the large trash. That way, when the large groups come out, it's more of putting the "finishing touches" on sections.

But even then, it's tough and seemingly endless work.

"Typically people come out and can't believe all this trash," Grace said. "It's just tons and tons of trash. When we're done, we're exhausted and filthy."

Plastic is a constant nuisance in the streams.

"Even for sections we've cleaned, you can go back a week later and it's plastic bottles and bags you can see down the street," Grace said.

This year, Grace plans on setting up an "Adopt-A-Creek" type program to help keep the trash at a minimum.

"We're just pegging out areas and we're going to have a team leader, basically one person we deal with — this is your section," he said.

And he's already garnered some interest.

"I already got some girls from Wilson College that want to come to take the town section down to the soccer fields," he said. "I'll take all the boats, get them in the water and get them set up. That way they don't have to do any labor there. They can do the section and then we'll come back and get the boats out, pick up all the trash and get rid of it. All they really have to do is pick the trash up."

The creek will stay clean if there are people who are willing to maintain it, Grace said.

"That's the bigger problem — we can go down and think we got it all and turn around two months later and the creek changes the way the water flows and it uncovered more stuff," he said.

In addition to setting up satellite groups along the sections they've already cleaned, Grace hopes to expand cleanups this year through the East Branch, which runs from Caledonia State Park to Greencastle.

"As I go I want to put groups in place to maintain it," he said. 

Expanding to the West Branch is another goal, but Grace said he's heard that area is worse than what they've done so far.

"There's places they need cameras," he said. "The water treatment bridge — I've pulled half a dozen mattresses, I'm constantly pulling purses and wallets out."

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It does make a difference

With hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested into the project, it can be a bit overwhelming to see how much work is left to do along the 80 miles of the Conococheague.

But seeing the improvement so far is a reward enough for Grace. It can be seen in the creek's role as a habitat for fish. 

"Something I noticed when I waded from Commerce Street, down through town, there were no schools of fish — there's a lot of crayfish, there's a lot of minnows, but as far as the smallmouth bass that used to be in there when I was a kid; they weren't there anymore."

But this year, they've come back, according to Grace.

"I've seen schools of them wading down from Commerce Street," he said. "You see them running up through the channels and lying in the deep water. Now, they're just babies, but they're there; they came back. We're starting to see a lot more musk turtles and stuff like that, which you didn't see previously."

Spending so much time in the creek, Grace has noticed just how much of an impact pulling out tons of trash can have on the local environment. 

He just needs some help to be able to continue to see it flourish.

"It's put back to a spot where people can manage it, because what we're attacking is unmanageable and it's overwhelming," he said. "It takes time, but we do it. We make progress."

Carley Bonk is a Watchdog Reporter for the Chambersburg Public Opinion. She can be reached at cbonk@publicopinionnews.com or on Twitter at @carls_marie.