KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Workers in Knoxville have removed three truckloads of invasive weeds from a local lake, including aquarium grasses that officials believe were dumped there by residents.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the city has spent nearly $760,000 cleaning up the one-acre lake in Fountain City Park.
Efforts to clean the lake have been going on for more than 30 years. First, the feces from abandoned pet ducks created a massive algae problem. Once the algae was under control, the invasive grasses took over.
David Hagerman is a stormwater engineer for the city.
He told the paper that people may intend to give their aquarium inhabitants a chance at life. But he says the reality is the animals have almost no chance of survival and the exotic plants overtake native vegetation.
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