Cleanup Project at Percy Priest Lake Earns National Volunteer Award

Mark Thien, co-founder of the Nashville Clean Water Project, has been named a 2011 Volunteer of the Year by National Public Lands Day.

As one of five national award recipients, Thien was selected for spearheading a large scale eco-recovery initiative at J. Percy Priest Lake on Sept. 24, 2011.

“His work at J. Percy Priest Lake in Nashville demonstrates the important contribution by volunteers in helping to sustain our nation’s public lands,” said NPLD Program Director Robb Hampton in the announcement.

The recognition was “a tribute to every volunteer and supporting business that has engaged with the initiative these past four years, so I tip my hat to each of them,” said Thien, who is president of Envolve Strategies Inc.

The September event drew 268 volunteers who amassed a work crew value of more than $30,000 over 1,435 volunteer hours. They removed 81 tires and 1,250 trash bags that weighed an estimated 33,800 pounds.

Thien had first encountered the pollution problem on a campout in 2008. The volunteer efforts have had support of entitites that include Bridgestone Americas, Waste Management, Lightning 100’s Team Green, Elm Hill Marina, and SC&A Natural Resources.

National Public Lands Day is a program of the National Environmental Education Foundation. To learn more, visit www.publiclandsday.org.

-By Staff Reporters at The Tennessean