Pine Lake is an 18-acre body of water located on the Mobile County Public Schools Environmental Studies Center (ESC) campus in Mobile, Alabama. The lake is maintained upstream through an inflow of water from what is known as Campground Creek. It drains into Halls Mill Creek and eventually into the Dog River watershed and into the Gulf.
Because of our ability to trace the path of this water, it plays a leading role in Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported educational programming that focuses on plastic pollution and its impact on local watersheds. As part of the program, students explore storm drain models and learn about the different types of pollutants that can enter our waterways. They also engage in hands-on activities by collecting and identifying macroinvertebrate species from the lake. This allows the students to look at the disruption that pollution causes in food chains.
One major challenge we face is the significant amount of litter discarded along the nearby roads, which eventually makes its way into Pine Lake through Campground Creek. Although our staff regularly picks up trash along the roadside to reduce what gets blown or washed into the creek, it is impossible to stop it completely.
During a recent workday, we took our boat out to clean up the lake’s shoreline and were shocked by the volume of trash collected in just a small stretch. We quickly realized this cleanup was beyond our capacity to handle.
We began to brainstorm what we could do to mitigate the pollution coming into our lake. This prompted us to reach out to the Osprey Initiative. They assisted us in the installation of a floating boom at the mouth of Campground Creek.
This boom was strategically placed in the creek allowing it to be the most effective at trapping litter before it enters the lake. While it is not 100% effective, it has made a noticeable difference, allowing us to recover substantial amounts of debris from the boom including plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, and litter of all shapes and sizes.
Protecting our watersheds from pollution will continue to be a battle for many years to come. At the Environmental Studies Center, we strive not only to do our part in keeping our local watersheds clean, but also to provide programming that instills in students the drive to do the same.
Meet the author
Troy Latham
Resource Teacher, Environmental Studies Center
Troy Latham is a Sea Grant-supported K-12 educator at the Mobile County Public School System's Environmental Studies Center. He serves as a marine educator on boat trips for the public school... Read more
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