No sea serpents, mobsters but Tahoe trash divers strike gold

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — Scuba divers at Lake Tahoe are sorting through their haul after an unprecedented, yearlong effort to remove litter from the alpine lake’s entire 72 miles of shoreline atop the Sierra Nevada. They found no trace of a mythical sea monster and no sign of mobsters in concrete shoes or long-lost treasure chests. But their hope is the 25,000 pounds of junk they gathered will prove much more valuable. Since last May, they’ve meticulously sorted and logged the types and GPS locations of the waste. It’s part of a first-of-its-kind effort to learn more about the potential harm caused by plastics and other pollutants in the waters on the California-Nevada line.