A discarded lawnmower, nestled comfortably in two feet of sediment with two wheels visible above a rush of water, rusts away in the middle of Carbondale’s Piles Fork Creek.

The lawnmower could not be rescued because of its off-shore location, but other creek-side filth was removed from the shoreline by the Delta Chi fraternity Saturday.

Spring-like weather did not hinder the fraternity from fulfilling their voluntary obligation to clean trash from around Piles Fork Creek or from filling plenty of trash bags with a good number of beer bottles, containers and plastic bags.

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Piles Fork Creek originates from the Carbondale Reservoir, flowing and meandering through town in a rather clean manner until it nears East Grand Avenue.

Anyone with an eye for trash would not have to look hard to find plenty of it scattered about the destitute banks of the Piles Fork Creek as it flows under East Grand Avenue.

Delta Chi fraternity members adopted the location in conjunction with Carbondale Clean and Green, an environmental outfit.

The fraternity clears trash from the quarter-mile stretch of creek located between Creekside Condominiums, and the Pinch Penny Pub complex, 700 E. Grand Ave.

Overlooking the remnants of the lawnmower in the middle of the ankle-deep creek, Pat Monahan continually reaches down to the littered creek shores bending back up with a cup, glass bottle or the occasional computer keyboard in hand.

I think this keyboard is the oddest thing we’ve found out here today, Monahan said, half-expecting more colorful waste to lie ahead of him in the shrubs. We found a scooter out here once.

Monahan, a junior in speech communication from Chicago, said the area is consistently blanketed in debris. Wal-Mart bags intertwine with bushes, oil containers camouflage themselves near dirt paths, and plastic cups boldly float by in the water.

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Brian Dolwick, a junior in plant and soil science from Mt. Vernon, appeared unmoved by the unofficial dump site as he filled a trash bag with beer bottles. As he moved down the shore, his swelling garbage bag at his side, litter kept rearing its ugly head.

It looks pretty bad here, Dolwick said.

Brett Nehrt, a third-year medical student from Chester, played with a car tire that the fraternity found in the area. Rolling it down a path adjacent to the creek, Nehrt said trash like tires have to be disposed of separately.

There were six or seven brown wooden posts scattered in an area away from the creek. The posts closely resembled the balcony posts located on the east side of Creekside Condominiums.

Aaron Bresko, Creekside resident and senior in education from Peoria, said he witnessed Creekside residents breaking off parts of their balconies and disposing of them by the creek.

Bresko has seen parties in the Creekside Condominiums where party people would hurl beer cans and bottles into the creek from their balconies.

I’ve seen it done once or twice, Bresko said.

As for the rest of the trash, the Delta Chi fraternity will return in six weeks to pick up more of other people’s unsightly waste.

The creek might continue to be the grave site of litter and battered balcony posts, Bresko said.

Some of it happens at parties around here, Bresko said. People break the posts and are too stupid to bring them to the garbage, so they throw them down by the creek.