SeaTac, WA (July 15, 2023) - A group of volunteer scuba divers from SeaTac and surrounding communities gathered at Angle Lake on Saturday for a cleanup effort that removed several bags of trash and debris from the lake's bottom.
Rotem Yossef, an Angle Lake resident who has been diving for over 30 years, organized the diving event. Yossef said he was inspired to organize the cleanup after seeing the amount of trash that had accumulated on the lake's bottom.
"I love Angle Lake, and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for it," Yossef said. "I think it's important for people to realize that our waterways are not a dumping ground for trash."
The cleanup volunteers spent several hours diving in the lake at depths of over 35 feet, retrieving trash from the bottom. They found everything from plastic bottles and food wrappers to oars and swim masks. "It was amazing to see how much trash we were able to remove from the lake," Yossef said. "I'm so grateful to the volunteers who helped out.
The 2023 Scrub Down, organized by the City of SeaTac, is just one of the many efforts to clean up Angle Lake. In prior years, the Angle Lake Shore Club held an annual Clean Sweep focusing on Angle Lake and the surrounding neighborhoods in July, while the City of SeaTac hosted their Scrub Down on Arbor Day each year. And in 2022, the Scrub Down was moved to July, providing ideal conditions to merge the ALSC Clean Sweep with the City-hosted Scrub Down event. Yossef seized the opportunity for collaboration by creating plans for a deep-water dive, recruiting local divers, and managing the dive operations. The remarkable success achieved in 2022 was surpassed by greater results in 2023 and promises to be even more significant in 2024!
Fuzz Hill stated, "This is a wonderful example of local government, businesses, and volunteer organizations partnering to promote healthy Angle Lake Stewardship, dedicated to protecting and restoring the lake." Yossef said he hopes the SeaTac Scrub Down will inspire others to take action to protect Angle Lake. "This lake is a valuable resource for our community; we all need to do our part to keep it clean."
The SeaTac Scrub Down was a success, and the volunteers removed 90 bags of trash collected from several points around the City, including the lake.
Pictures of the dive event can also be viewed HERE.
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