Just like the famous line, ‘water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink’, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, water is around us but is often not clean or safe enough to drink. Meet U.S. Navy Vet - Captain Vic Scoggin Let’s Talk Trash! SEPT / OCT 2021 ©2020 - 2021 The Keenan Group, Inc 17 Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink! aaron@usstn.com w: (615) 227-2275 f: (615) 746-5211 c: (615) 982-2998 Project Manager AARON WOLFE
After celebrating his 18th birthday far away from home in boot camp, Vic worked the engine room on an 800-foot Naval ship – surrounded by what he loves – water – for several years. Vic Scoggin’s love affair with a river, flowing almost 700 miles through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee, began at an early age. Growing up along the winding Cumberland River in Tennessee, the waterway was Vic’s playground . “I learned to swim, fish, scuba dive – my life revolved around this river.” When I returned home to Tennessee, I discovered things had changed over the years – “my river” didn’t seem the same. It was dirtier, more polluted, and littered with bagged trash and a refrigerator dumped on the bank. It was unsettling so I had to do something about it. In 1996, Captain Vic was compelled to raise awareness and educate people about the
importance of clean river water; so, he literally jumped in – and swam.! Beginning in the coal mining areas of eastern Kentucky, dipping into the northern part of Tennessee, and ending in Smithland, Kentucky, Vic’s swim took him by every riverbank and marina along the Cumberland’s 696 mile route. Swimming past beautiful rock formations and tranquil coves, he also saw his share of ugly things – soda cans, fast food wrappers, cigarette butts, and worse. Over 20 years later, Vic still works tirelessly on his mission. The swimming adventure led to his founding Save the Cumberland , a non-profit dedicated to providing public awareness and education regarding Cumberland River concerns. Inspired by his earliest effort a group of Nashville philanthropists founded The Cumberland River Compact, one of America’s great eco- defense societies that now leads water protection throughout middle Tennessee. But Captain Vic isn’t interested in all those big things. He is just an ordinary guy who remembers what the river gave him as a child and he wants the river to still be here
is good to have a passion, a driving force motivating us to get up and ning. Vic Scoggin’s love affair with a river, flowing almost 700 miles of Kentucky and Tennessee, began at an early age. Growing up along berland River in Tennessee, the waterway was Vic’s playground. “I fish, scuba dive – my life revolved around this river,” he says. his 18th birthday far away from home in boot camp, Vic worked the n 800-foot Naval ship – surrounded by what he loves – water – for eturning home to Tennessee and a new marriage, he introduced his ecial places along the Cumberland River. But things had changed his river” didn’t seem the same. “It was dirtier, more polluted – I saw a refrigerator dumped on the bank,” he continues. It was unsettling to ved to do something about it.
The Master Captain, recently retired from his 32-year factory job and is currently a volunteer firefighter. “Every single plastic bottle or napkin thrown into the river matters. We can’t wonder what difference does my one bottle make? We need to care more, and we definitely can’t lose hope.” to www.savethecumberland.org or call 615-429-5351. All proceeds go to “making Cumberland River the cleanest major river in America.”
U.S. Navy Vet, Captain Vic Scoggin, owner and captain of The Eastern Surveyor Naval Research Vessel—the only such vessel on the Cumberland River—conducts ship inspections for his Eastern Surveyor on a frigid morning at Rock Harbor Marina, Nashville, February 2018. He purchased this research vessel and assembled a team of researchers to document all species on the Cumberland (and other rivers) and the threats they face from water pollution to waterside development. The Cumberland River is a global biodiversity hotspot for freshwater mussels and fish. Raising his children and continuing to live on the river, Vic continues to fight for the environment to defend the river watershed and the animals and plants that depend upon its lifeblood.
Freshwater mussels perform an important ecological service by keeping our streams and rivers clean. They filter out large quantities of harmful algae and bacteria. They also absorb heavy metals and filter silt and fine particulates that harm aquatic ecosystems. They are indicators of water quality. Crayfish are small lobster-like crustaceans that live in rivers and streams with adequate shelter and gravel or stony bottoms. While they feed upon virtually anything included dead and heavily decayed protein matter, they are very intolerant of muddy, silty or polluted waters. Their presence (or absence) in a river or stream environment (like indigenous freshwater clams & mussels, etc.) provides a vital clue to the health of the river, pollution levels and changes in overall water quality.
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e awareness and educate people about the importance of clean river d in – and swam. Beginning in the coal mining areas of eastern g into the northern part of Tennessee, and ending in Smithland, wim took him by every riverbank and marina along the Cumberland’s Swimming past beautiful rock formations and tranquil coves, he also
“ When you see the mussels and crayfish on the bottom of the stream, that is our health right there. The health of the animals indicate the health of the water we drink. People need to realize that we have to protect these animals to protect our own health.”
U.S. Navy Vet, Captain Vic Scoggin, owner and captain of The Eastern Surveyor Na Research Vessel—the only such vessel on the Cumberland River—conducts ship inspections for his Eastern Surveyor on a frigid morning at Rock Harbor Marina, Nashville, February 2018. In 1996, in an effort to raise awareness and save the Cumberland River from pollutio Contaminated water is a detriment to all living things - Get Involved!
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