MCADENVILLE, N.C. — A Gaston County man is pushing others to treat the South Fork Catawba River with respect after recently spotting people illegally dumping along a floodplain near McAdenville.
Keith, who asked to only be identified by his middle name out of concern for potential retaliation, sent WCNC Charlotte photos of appliances, furniture and pallets splayed out near the river.
"Oh my gosh, I'm deeply offended," Keith said. "This is not good at all."
Keith said his lineage traces back to indigenous people.
"This is spiritual ground," Keith said. "This is like a temple being [de-]filed."
According to the Catawba Riverkeeper's Brandon Jones, most of the trash found along the South Fork and Catawba Rivers is next to major roadways like I-85 and Wilkinson Boulevard.
Illegal dumping near South Fork Catawba River
"We've come a long way in the last few decades where we don't see nearly as much illegal dumping," Jones said.
Besides being unsightly and harming wildlife, Jones said municipalities rely on the Catawba River Basin for drinking water.
For the last year and a half, the foundation has been taking river samples for a microplastics pilot project.
"Every single sample has little bits of plastic in it, and so that's really a concern," Jones said. "We want to keep that out of the environment as much as possible."
The Catawba Riverkeeper has a website and smartphone app, where people can report pollution along the basin.
Keith reported the pollution he found to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and he said regulators quickly responded back to him.
"It should be kept [as] clean as your own home," Keith said. "No one should dump any trash here."
Contact Brandon Golder at bgoldner@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.