Lake Hartwell Shoreline Cleanup: Drought exposes long-hidden trash; volunteers pull record 36 tires

A prolonged drought has lowered Lake Hartwell enough to expose shoreline debris that normally sits underwater, giving volunteers an unusual opportunity to remove years of accumulated litter. According to WYFF 4, a recent cleanup brought together 148 volunteers who collected about 8,300 pounds of trash, including a record 36 tires. The Lake Hartwell Partners for Clean Water and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have separately documented the lake’s ongoing cleanup efforts and unusually low water conditions. The cleanup comes as Lake Hartwell continues to sit well below its normal full-pool level. The drop has changed the appearance of large stretches of shoreline, exposing rocks, sediment and objects that would ordinarily remain submerged.At Sadler’s Creek State Park in South Carolina, the retreating water has revealed everyday waste such as bottles and other debris. For cleanup organizers, however, the difficult lake conditions have created a rare window to reach sections of shoreline that are usually inaccessible. The latest effort covered 14 locations across five counties. Volunteers worked along the lake’s shoreline and removed roughly 8,300 pounds of material, with 36 tires maki...