Nearly $1M cleanup effort includes Burden Museum and Gardens pit 

This collection of some 81 tons of garbage from homes and vehicles across south Baton Rouge traveled along Wards Creek before settling on property in a wooded area off Essen Lane near the LSU Burden Museum and Gardens. (Marie Constantin)

Gov. John Bel Edwards, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and LSU officials today announced federal and state funding for the first phase of the cleanup of a borrow pit at Burden Museum and Gardens that has been collecting trash from stormwater for decades. 

The pit was featured last year in a Business Report cover story about Baton Rouge’s litter problem. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $500,000 to the LSU AgCenter to implement three litter abatement demonstration sites across Baton Rouge, including a community engagement campaign. Those sites include The Burden Museum and Gardens, the Capitol Lakes and Bayou Fountain at BREC’s Highland Road Park. Supplemental funding totaling $400,000 was provided by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and $75,000 by the lieutenant governor’s office.

In addition, members of the Governor’s Litter Abatement and Beautification Task Force have submitted their initial report with recommendations for establishing and sustaining litter prevention efforts across Louisiana. Click here to read the report.

This story originally appeared in the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. Read the original story here.

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The patented Litter Gitter is a tactical in-stream litter collection device used to intercept floating litter from stormwater runoff. The Osprey team handles all aspects of installing and maintaining these “trash traps” and compiles data on the items caught in them, recycling as much of the litter as possible.