St. Clair County, Illinois ISS had a sinkhole clean up at Stemler Cave Woods Nature Preserve on Saturday April 21, 2001. Although turnout was limited, the group filled a very large dumpster with garbage.
Pictures are available here .
Despite the potential threat of rain and the daunting task of gettting to the bottom of this sinkhole through layer upon layer of household trash and miscellaneous farm equipment, our group of about a dozen volunteers did a fantastic job. Although the clean up is not finished, the appearance of the area has greatly improved, and we've come a long way toward improving the water quality and making it a more hospitable place for the plants and animals that live there. I know that eveyone has busy schedules and more exciting activities to participate in, so I really, really appreciate the time and effort that everyone put into this clean-up project. I look forward to continuing this project with the cooperation of the ISS and we plan to have another clean up this fall on October 27. This is NOT the same as Stemler Cave itself.