200 dives, 72 miles and 25K pounds of trash: Behind a massive Lake Tahoe cleanup

Waterfront homes among the pine trees along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Waterfront homes among the pine trees along the shoreline of Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Photo credit Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Approximately 25,000 pounds of trash — everything from vape pens to an 80s boom box — has been collected from beneath the water all across Lake Tahoe's 72 mile shoreline . The group responsible said they're not stopping there either.

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The massive operation was undertaken by the organization "Clean Up The Lake," led by founder Colin West.

"When I was in Tahoe doing beach cleanups I came across some friends of mine that did one SCUBA cleanup and ended up pulling out 300 pounds of trash," he told KCBS Radio on Tuesday. "So I dove right in, quite literally and figuratively, and began seeing there is a terrible submerged litter problem in Lake Tahoe."

He added that he wanted to do something to prevent the lake from becoming a big "soupy mess."

West and others, with help of plenty of volunteers and boaters, on Tuesday completed the last of their 189 dives over 81 days in the past year, traversing up and down Tahoe's extensive shoreline. The group raised nearly $300,000 to complete the project.

"All this trash has been left behind and ignored. It’s kind of sad when things are out of sight and they're out of mind," he said.

Sadye Easler, fell in love with the lake after growing up in Vermont and now helps run the clean up project.

"Today (Tuesday) we are standing in snow and it’s actually kind of telling of what we’ve gone through this winter just to get this accomplished," she said.

Meghan Burk, who calls herself a volunteer trash SCUBA diver with Clean up the Lake, hoped that the organization's efforts will inspire others to maintain the lake.

"I think the awareness created around this project will hopefully happen to individual citizens in the way that they conduct themselves when they’re out recreating and enjoying this beautiful area," she explained.

Even after their extensive first cleanup, the group still isn’t hanging up their snorkels yet. Those volunteers said they've only skimmed the top of the Sierra lakes and are set to embark on more cleanup projects this summer.

"We are recleaning 20 specific hotspots that we GPS pinpointed during our 72 mile cleanup," Burk said. "We're also going to be circumnavigating Donner Lake and then additionally we’ll be doing our first circumnavigation of Fallen Leaf Lake as well as expanding to June Lake in Mammoth."

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images