Concerns raised over increasing amount of trash in Stony Run Creek in McGaheysville

MCGAHEYSVILLE, Va. (WHSV) - Some neighbors in McGaheysville have concerns about litter in Stoney Run Creek. One man in the community said that he and his neighbors have seen a concerning amount of trash floating down the creek that empties into the Shenandoah River.

Mark Shifflett has lived along Stony Run Creek in McGaheysville for 22 years, but he said over the last two years he and his neighbors have seen a significant increase in the amount of trash that’s been thrown in the creek.

“Every time the creek gets up and it goes back down there are bags of trash, there are appliances, heaters, I’ve gotten lawnmowers out of here,” said Shifflett. “I didn’t really realize where it was coming from until this year when the leaves had fallen off the trees and I was standing here on my bridge, and I could look up the creek and see truckloads of trash thrown down over the bank.”

Shifflett said he has seen more people throwing their trash in the creek than ever before. He said he has reached out to local law enforcement and state agencies like the Virginia Department of Forestry to try to address the problem but so far nothing has been done.

“We’ve actually had animal carcasses wash down here and everything else. I’ve called about it to the authorities several times and nothing has ever been done about it,” said Shifflett. “I haven’t gotten any answers because they come here, they tell me they’re going to look into it and they would give me a call back and let me know what they found out or what they were going to do. I haven’t heard anything back from anyone that has been here.”

Shifflett said that both he and his next-door neighbors have grandchildren that play in the creek which makes the trash a safety concern as well.

“It’s getting glass in it, it’s getting dirty diapers in it, I’ve got bags that had cat litter in it, household trash. You name it, I’ve got it out of this creek in the last year,” he said. “Me and my wife walk down this creek and there are bags of trash as far as we walk down the creek here.”

The environmental impact on the freshwater ecosystem is also a big concern for Shifflett and his neighbors.

“There are trout and fish in this creek, the creek does not dry up because it’s spring-fed from Massanutten Mountain and it runs right into the Shenandoah River. I mean it’s disrespectful to pretty much everyone on the planet to throw trash in the creek,” said Shifflett.

When contacted by WHSV about the issue on Thursday the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said that because the issue is litter rather than pollution where chemicals are being dumped in the creek the responsibility to handle the situation would fall on Rockingham County.