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Jun 19, 2009 5:42 pm US/Central
Lake Como Cleanup A Fort Worth Success Story
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Lake Como in Fort Worth.
KTVT / KTXA
Lake Como is nestled in an older, west Fort Worth, neighborhood. It's roughly a 10-acre lake with a small pier and park surrounding it. Children from the neighborhood often go to the lake to feed the ducks or fish, but just a few years ago the situation was vastly different.
"There was a whole lot of trash," said Gabriel Serna, a young boy who uses the park.
Como neighbor Matilda Lopez agreed and said, "There were a lot of bushes and trash and not a lot of places for the kids to run around."
Chemical dumping and runoff had polluted the lake so badly that people we're banned from eating fish from it. After some time, the City of Fort Worth and the federal government began a cleanup effort. Toxic chemicals in the neighborhood were collected for proper disposal and a public awareness campaign was kicked off to educate residents about keeping chemicals out of the water.
The environmental cleanup paid off in just a few years time. The levels of dangerous chemicals went from highly toxic in 1994, to practically nonexistent in 2009.
Just recently the state also lifted the ban on Lake Como fish consumption.
"Now that they've cleaned it up and they're letting people fish, there's a lot of kids coming and fishing and stuff like that," Lopez said of the change.
What was once a city embarrassment is now a case study for other lake cleanup projects.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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