Osprey Initiative workers remove litter from Buck Creek

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A group of workers joined together on Friday, July 12 to work to keep Alabaster’s Buck Creek clean as part of a continued partnership between the city of Alabaster and Osprey Initiative.

The city of Alabaster has partnered with Osprey Initiative for years to keep Buck Creek clean and the city saw workers Mitch Lowe, Keith Roberson and Walker Hamilton from Osprey initiative working in the field to accomplish that goal on July 12. The group removed litter from the creek in multiple locations, including a hotspot between Thompson Road and the Alabaster YMCA.

“We have a great partnership with the Osprey Initiative and we’re honored to be able to work with them to ensure Buck Creek remains as clean as possible in Alabaster,” Alabaster Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner said. “Our City Engineer Brett Tucker was instrumental in forming this partnership and it has really made a positive impact on the creek—and waterways downstream—over the last few years.”

Osprey Initiative also has Litter Gitter and Litter Boom devices along the creek in Alabaster, which have collected more than 1,200 pounds of litter since 2023. The traps are designed to intercept storm water conveyed litter and the organization installed them and continues to maintain them.

“The city has just been great to work with us,” said Don Bates, owner of Osprey Initiative. “(They are) a relatively new client for us but they’ve been supportive at the city staff side (in) working with us to find these sites and do what we do.”

Osprey Initiative also gathers data and works throughout the watershed to identify potential sources of litter.

“It’s always easier to stop the litter in the first place from wherever it gets in the water,” Bates said. “A lot of our data and what we collect can potentially help make informed decisions on what happens up on land also.”

Osprey Initiative was started in and is based in Mobile but also has a physical location in Birmingham where they work with Homewood, Birmingham and Decatur. The organization also works with local major nonprofits, including Freshwater Land Trust, Cahaba Riverkeeper and Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

Bates emphasized the environmental motivations behind the company and how they seek to keep the waters clean for the benefit of citizens.

“Our passion that goes through our company is that every piece of water is important to somebody,” Bates said. “So many of our communities are doing a great job of building their assets around these green spaces and blue ways. And so, (we’re) doing our part to protect them so people in the communities enjoy walking down by the creek. That’s really what drives us and excites us.”

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