June 2025 newsletter
HAPPY SUMMER!
Summer is the time when people use waterways the most for swimming, boating, fishing, waterskiing, and many other forms of recreation. Millions of people depend on this water for drinking and enjoyment. The public needs an organization like Tennessee Riverkeeper defending our waterways.
If you are able, please pitch in $5 or more and help the organization KEEP going strong! Tennessee Riverkeeper's mission is to protect the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers and the tributaries by enforcing environmental laws and educating the public. Together we are stronger and we need each other now more than ever.
As we celebrate 15 years of service, we cannot thank y'all enough for your support!
Click Here to Donate
Cleanup Season!
Tennessee Riverkeeper has removed approximately 59,459 pounds of litter from waterways since 2018, and 4,580 this year.
Most single-use plastic waste like plastic bottles, styrofoam pieces, and shopping bags, don't weigh much. One trash bag often has hundreds of pieces of little plastic and might weigh less than 10 pounds.
We started doing cleanups in 2018 when the Tennessee River became the poster child for freshwater microplastics after a National Geographic study and cover story.
Many organizations do cleanups, few file lawsuits against polluters. We continue to work on bigger picture solutions to litter, microplastics, and plastic pollution.
Thank y'all for your support!
Please donate $45 to celebrate 4,500+ pounds of waste removed this year.
New blog: Microplastics In Your Food and Drinks
Our most recent blog post dives into microplastics in your food and beverages. Topics include:
STORING FOODS: NEVER store these foods in plastic: hot foods (!!!), acidic foods, greasy and oily foods, should not be stored in plastic containers. Read this article to learn more. Heat can release microplastics and other bad plastic chemicals into your food and beverages.
NEW HEALTH STUDIES: new study in mice suggests that microplastics in food and drink could be interfering with blood sugar levels and damaging the liver…
REDUCING MICROPLASTICS: Whether you’re chopping veggies on a plastic cutting board or reheating last night’s diner in a plastic container, you may be increasing your exposure to microplastics…
GENERAL INFO: What experts want you to know about microplastics...
9 active cases on our legal docket:
Maynardville, TN: On May 9, 2025, Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act against the City of Maynardville for pollution overflows in their sewage collection system. Case number: 3:25-cv-00208 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Lebanon Landfill, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Lebanon, Tennessee over a closed landfill which we discovered is discharging pollutants containing PFAS chemicals to a tributary of Spring Creek, a tributary of Cumberland River. Riverkeeper seeks to have the discharge abated. Case number: 3:23-cv-01369 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
Monterey, TN: On March 4, 2025, Tennessee Riverkeeper mailed notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act for pollution related to sewage overflows and also effluent violations. The Monterey Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is located near the Falling Water River. Falling Water River flows into City Lake in Cookeville and Burgess Falls State Park in Sparta.
City of Celina, TN: On Friday, November 22, 2024, Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Celina for sewage pollution, including permit discharge limitation violations, mostly for Biochemical Oxygen Demand, but also Total Residual Chlorine, E.coli, Dissolved Oxygen and pH, and fifty overflow violations. The suit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, case number: 2:24-cv-00079.
Kingston Springs, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. recently filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act (CWA), against the Kingston Springs STP for violations of the CWA and the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act. The Kingston Springs Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) has had 1,099 days of Clean Water Act violations from July 2021 to April 2024, including overflows of raw sewage. David Whiteside said: “The Harpeth River is a Tennessee treasure, highly used for boating, swimming and fishing. This section of the Harpeth has boat accesses and is a point of entry for the Blueway canoe & kayak trail. The suit was filed October 16, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number: 3:24-cv-01241.
"Sky Nashville" in Nashville, TN: Sky Nashville is a large development located on a steep hill overlooking the city from the west at the junction of I-40 and I-440, north of Charlotte Avenue. The construction site, and pond of muddy water regularly flooding Delaware Avenue can be seen adjacent to the east bound lanes of the interstate. We filed a lawsuit on December 14, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number: 3:24-cv-01461.
Chapel Hill, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Chapel Hill, Tennessee over numerous and repeated violations of the pollution discharge limits found in their permit. The main pollutant of concern is Biochemical Oxygen Demand. Case number: 1:24-cv-00050 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
Barnes Dump in Nashville, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against Robert Barnes d/b/a Barnes Fill Site. The suit alleges that Barnes is violating the CWA and RCRA due to operating a Construction and Demolition Landfill which discharges stormwater to tributaries nearby without first obtaining a NPDES permit for C&D Landfills. Barnes discharges enter Sulphur Creek, a tributary of the Cumberland River. The suit was filed February 1, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number 3:24-cv-00113.
Summer Cleanup Support
As our successful spring cleaning season winds down and we enter summer, please pitch in and support our litter cleanup program. We will be announcing a few summer cleanups soon. Please stay tuned to our social media sites and email blasts.
The cleanup program removes trash, mostly single-use plastics from creeks and rivers and shore lines. It reduces plastic pollution and microplastics in our water. It also educates the public about single-use plastics and plastic pollution.
If you cannot attend a cleanup but want to support them, please click here to donate.
Thank you to The Orion Amphitheater!
Day To Day with Mariah on CBS Huntsville (WHNT) recently did an in depth news story about The Orion Amphitheater's environmental efforts, especially supporting Tennessee Riverkeeper:
