Nails create a major hazard for Kinchafoonee - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Nails create a major hazard for Kinchafoonee

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By Stephanie Springer - bio | email

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LEE COUNTY, GA (WALB) -

Whether a hateful crime or an act of stupidity, someone created a dangerous situation at a popular South Georgia swimming hole. Hundreds of roofing nails were found in the Blue Hole on the Kinchafoonee Creek in Lee County.

Code enforcement officers removed as many as they could but it's now up to divers with magnets to retrieve the rest.

The Blue Hole is one of the most popular spots in Lee County to cool off..and have fun.

"Its pretty crowded there are 30 to 40 people there every weekend," said  Chief Code Enforcement officer Jim Wright

But unfortunately, the creek is also a spot where litter, trash and debris are dumped.

"If you name something, we've probably pulled it out of the creek." Wright says over the years, they've pulled out some unusual items from the water. "We've gotten two boats, a Doctor Pepper machine, a washing machine, two dryers..."

But these roofing nails are the most potentially dangerous items he's ever come across.

A boater found hundreds of the nails in the creek over the weekend. He collected as many as he could and turned the nails over to code enforcement.

"I wasn't very happy to be honest with you. We work very hard to clean up the creeks," Wright said.

Wright says he doesn't know how the nails got there but he doesn't think they got there by accident. "It's suspicious. They are all the same kind of nails in a small area."

One swimmer says he thinks the nails were intentionally dumped there. "I think people getting irritated because its loud, and people come out here and party."

And it has become a popular spot to party. Wright says several complaints have recently come in.  "Noise is one of them, marijuana, underage drinking, and litter. Every weekend there is a ton of litter left here."

Now Wright has one mission, to get those dangerous nails and any other debris out of the creek as soon as possible.  "I doubt we will ever find out who put these here, but we would pursue charges and put them in court."

This weekend the Divers with the Lee County CERT team will close off that portion of the creek to the public and spend the day picking up any additional nails along with additional debris.

They will use magnets to pick up any nails or other pieces of debris they come across. They advise folks to stay out of the area until it is cleaned up.

 

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