In response to the negative publicity Teaberry Road has been receiving over the past few weeks, Keep Carter County Beautiful is organizing a cleanup event this weekend to help alleviate some of the trash people have left behind.

KCCB Chairman Edward Jordan said they got a call from Patty Woodby asking for help in organizing the cleanup.

“It is pretty grim,” Jordan said.

He said trash is all over the side of the road, but some of it is nestled into small cliff sides, and so Jordan said they would probably not be able to clean all of it.

“Some of it is a safety issue,” he said. “It will be impossible to clean up all of Teaberry.”

Despite the difficulty of the task, Jordan said he has reached out to a variety of groups to help out, including Benny Lyons of the Carter County Recycling Center to provide a dumpster.

He said he invited the Carter County Sheriff’s Department to help out, but did not get a response back.

“We would like to have a deputy on site the day of for whatever may arise,” he said.

Jordan pointed to a recent arrest of a man in Washington County as proof of the seriousness of littering.

“Judge Bowers sentenced him to about 160 days of community service,” he said. “It was pretty steep.”

He said this proves the community is taking littering seriously now.

“Groups of citizens are watching the area,” Jordan said. “Folks doing this, beware. They are going to be caught.”

He said the Teaberry Road situation in particular frustrates him, because there is a convenience center right nearby.

“It is right there. You do not have to drive all the way to the county landfill.”

Jordan said they had roughly 35 volunteers show up to assist in the cleanup Saturday, including County Commissioners Commissioners Woodby and Mike Hill. They filled three 40-yard dumpsters worth of trash.