trash in the lake

J

Jeff Brigner

New member


How long does it take trash
to disappear from the lake?

I found this information on our "Old Hickory Lake" site and thought it was interesting. All items take longer to disappear than I thought.
I listed the address to the site below. If you plan a trip anywhere near this area you may want to add this lake to your trip. Hope you enjoy poking around the site.
http://www.tennesseelakeinfo.com/oldhickory/index.html

How long does it take trash
to disappear from the lake?

2-4 weeks Paper Towels
6 weeks Newspaper
2 months Cardboard Box
2 months Apple Core
1-5 months Cotton Glove
3-14 months Cotton Rope
3 months Waxed Milk Carton
6 months Photo-degradable Beverage Container
1-3 years Plywood
1 year Biodegradable Diaper
1 year Wool Glove
13 years Painted Wood
50 years Styrofoam Cup
50 years Tin Can
80 years Styrofoam Buoy
200 years Aluminum Can
400 years Plastic Beverage Holder
450 years Disposable Diaper
450 years Plastic Milk Jug
450 years Plastic Drink Bottle
600 years Fishing Line
Undetermined Glass Bottles
 
When it starts raining

people disappear in 2 minutes.

Not only does the trash take a long time to disappear some of it would last long enough to hurt many generations of fish. eg six pack plastic container top rings
 
Of all the items on the list the one that surprises me is the apple core. Would never thought it would take 2 months to break down in that enviroment

Chuck
Bootleg Hooch
 
They just had an underwater cleanup at Lake Stevens. Its' a lake near my house that is a major summer recreation hub for boating, skiing, etc. It's about 8 miles around and about 200' at it's deepest. It was amazing what they recovered. I noted complete cases of empty beer bottles, fishing line, aluminum cans, boat/car parts...people are idiots.

Maybe DaveS helped out.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200905 ... /705219926
 
localboy":2cadhg2w said:
Maybe DaveS helped out.
Click to expand...

We always send a unit to standby in case we are needed. Last year I stood by, but not this year.
When they did the underwater clean-up last year, It hadn't been done for a number of years and they brought up a LOT of "stuff".

FYI....Somewhere in the lake is a locomotive that sunk back in the early logging days.

I just googled "Locomotive In Lake Stevens" and the following are quotes/paraphrases from an article dated 7/25/95 about the locomotive.

"The Whidbey Island Naval Air Station sent Naval Explosive Ordnance Mobil Unit 17 for the offbeat training assignment to locate the locomotive in 1995. Sometime between 1911 and 1915 the brakes gave out on the locomotive and it rolled over into the lake. It is 25-30 feet long and lying on its' side 14' under the surface and under 14' of mud".

(Note: The begining of the article states that "it is under 35' of water in 14' of mud", but the depths are shown as different later in the article...see above).

For years oldtimers told stories about it, but no one had been able to locate it and so many folks did not believe the stories. When it was located the oldtimers were all smiles and vindicated.
 
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