Alabama Power and volunteers remove 3 tons of trash from Lake Eufaula in Renew Our Rivers cleanup
Lake Eufaula is “spic and span” after its recent two-day Renew Our Rivers (ROR) cleanup, in which volunteers removed 3 tons of trash and debris.
Southeast/Farley APSO volunteers included Jessica Dean, left, and Leslie Willett, both of Power Delivery; Lakeisha Russaw, Community Relations; and Southeast Division Vice President Jason Davis. (Teisha Wallace / Alabama News Center)
The “beautiful results” are gratifying to Lake Eufaula resident Brad Moore and more than 135 other volunteers who worked in the event March 28-29.
“We were incredibly fortunate to have a beautiful day on Saturday that allowed volunteers to cover significant ground around the lake,” said Moore, who has lived on the lake for 25 years and is president of the Friends of Lake Eufaula environmental group. “We are ready for warm-weather recreation on the lake.”
“Removing three tons of trash is certainly something to celebrate,” Moore added, “but it’s only a drop in the bucket compared to what’s going into our oceans. Renew Our Rivers shows the real need for these efforts to protect our lakes, rivers and oceans.”
Several employees from Alabama Power’s Southeast Division assisted in the 19th annual cleanup, including volunteers of the Southeast/Farley chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO). Alabama Power’s Environmental Affairs cleanup team, led by longtime ROR Coordinator Mike Clelland, canvassed the lake before the work, enabling the team to pinpoint the locations of large Styrofoam docks that needed to be hauled away.
Volunteers pulled at least 17 damaged dock floats from the waters, some of which weighed several hundred pounds each, according to Clelland, Alabama Power Environmental Affairs specialist.
Cleanup volunteers also removed lots of bottles and cans. “Someone did remove a machete … besides the big dock floats,” said Clelland, who worked about 10 hours on the water during the two-day event.
Sixth grader Paris Ford’s catfish drawing was used on Lake Eufaula ROR T-shirts. (Brad Moore)
Clelland and his team provided about 135 ROR T-shirts for volunteers. The back of the shirts included a scene with a big catfish jumping in midair. The artwork was created by sixth grader Paris Ford, a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Lake Eufaula. Ford was awarded a $50 gift card by FOLE.
Other participants included the Alabama Marine Patrol, 4-H Club students, Chattahoochee River Conservancy, Elite Sonar, Eufaula Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5850, Eufaula Water Works, St. James Episcopal Church and Tow BoatUS, with the U.S. Coast Guard Station – Eufaula and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing assistance.
While the 2025 ROR cleanup season started in March, Clelland said Alabama Power’s EA team and volunteers have already removed 12 tons of trash and debris. He and the EA team have covered about 20 miles of lakes and shorelines thus far.
The next ROR cleanup will be April 12 at Lay Lake on the Coosa River.