MAY 2025 NEWSLETTER
TODAY! We have a Mother's Day fundraiser at Kendra Scott in Nashville!
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at 4025 Hillsboro Circle, Nashville, TN 37215
We’re so excited to announce our Mother’s Day event with Nashville’s Kendra Scott store on May 8th!
We will be celebrating those that nurture others with complimentary sips from Nashville Tap Truck and a DIY bouquet bar with The Farmer's Florist. (Thank you Christie Tarleton!) 💐
Each purchase gives back with 20% of proceeds to Tennessee Riverkeeper, who dedicate their time and resources to cleaning up our waterways. There is no deeper way to care for our community, our mothers, our children, and our world than to clean our water.
Excited to see you there!!! 🌸🐝🕊️ - @NatureAddNurture
Cleanup Season!
Tennessee Riverkeeper has removed more than 54,000 pounds of litter from waterways since 2018.
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 support the cleanup program!
New blog: Microplastics Are Invading Our Arteries
A small study suggests that fatty plaques in the neck’s carotid arteries may contain over 50 times more micronanoplastics, tiny plastic particles, than healthy arteries. These plaques, which can narrow arteries and potentially trigger strokes, appear to trap significant amounts of plastic debris.
9 active cases on our legal docket:
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. (see photo below)
Maynardville, TN: On January 9, 2025, Tennessee Riverkeeper mailed notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act to Mayor Ty Blakely of the City of Maynardville for failure to avoid overflows in their sewage collection system.
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.
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.
"Dirt Mountain" in Nashville, TN: Our lawsuit against the owners and operators of the RR Farms Mass Grading site, which locals have designated “Dirt Mountain”, on Ashland City Highway near Pecan Valley Road continues to progress through the court. Case number: 3:23-cv-00878 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
Spring Cleanup Support
As cleanup season resumes, please pitch in and support our litter cleanup program. We will be announcing some spring 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.
If you cannot attend a cleanup but want to support them, please click here to donatE.
Thank you, Taylin Lewan and Delaney Royer!
We are tremendously grateful for all kinds of support from Taylin Lewan and Delaney Royer of Nashville! These two environmental warriors are strengthening and improving this nonprofit organization by working hard on cleanups, fundraisers, social media, community organizing, and much more!
Please follow their organization @NatureAddNurture on Instagram.
Taylin and Delaney are pictured below cleaning up the Cumberland River in matching Woodsie Owl "Give A Hoot, Don't Pollute" sweatshirts.
