‘You name it, it’s down there’: Volunteers help clean up Penticton channel

Every wonder what sits at the bottom of the Penticton channel?

“Over the years, we’ve pulled out interesting stuff. Dishwashers, shopping carts, washing machines, all sorts of stuff that you wonder how they end up in the river,” said Kevin Aschhoff, a dive instructor with Oceantech Scuba.

“Nothing really surprises me much anymore.”

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A group of volunteers scoured the water Sunday, cleaning up what people leave behind in one of Penticton’s most popular tourist attractions.

“You name it, it’s pretty much down there,” event organizer Deborah Williams said.

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Seven divers took to the water on Sunday. A full crew aboard a boat nearby gathered what they collected and additional volunteers on shore loaded up the trash into trucks for disposal.

“The channel itself doesn’t fall under ownership … of anything. The city doesn’t own it, the Penticton Indian Band doesn’t own it, so stewardship of it gets a little awkward,” Williams said.

Share this on X Click to share quote on X: "The channel itself doesn't fall under ownership … of anything. The city doesn't own it, the Penticton Indian Band doesn't own it, so stewardship of it gets a little awkward," Williams said.

Last year the event, dubbed the “Great Channel Clean,” took two tonnes of garbage out of the channel.