OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Earlier this week, draining and cleanup began at the Bricktown Canal; now, a treasure hunt of sorts begins before they can refill the waterway.
This is the first cleanup in three years.
As you can imagine, city crews find a variety of things from cell phones to skateboards in the depths – but this year, Lime Scooters and something fishy were discovered.
The Bricktown Canal is getting a bath, no rubber duckies found there yet– but plenty of real ducks, massive channel catfish– and even goldfish!
You might be wondering how goldfish ended up in the Bricktown Canal – seems kind of fishy, right?
City employees say they could have been pets that outgrew their tanks and then were dumped by their owners.
“People that thought they’d stay little small fish and then the more you feed them the bigger they get,” said Scott Copelin with the Parks and Recreation Department. “When they get to a certain size, they don’t want to upgrade their tank so they’ll come out here and dump them.”
Copelin says the catfish could have been dumped as well or their eggs could have been dropped by birds.
The catfish are headed to the Oklahoma River now – but not the goldfish, who are considered an invasive species.
“I have a guy that’s interested in them so we’re going to try to find a home for those,” said Copelin.
Crews found a wheelchair near where the fish were swimming.
“Not sure what that story is but it’s there. Somebody put it there,” Copelin said.
They say there were too many slimy Lime Scooters in the abyss to count.
“They quit counting at 20,” said Copelin. “There were over 20 Lime Scooters in the canal.”
The goal is to have the cleanup wrapped up and the river filled once again just in time for romantic Valentine’s Day rides on the water taxi.
“They’re working really hard and it’s not fun or easy work so I’m really proud of the employees we have here,” Copelin said.
Starting Monday, crews will bring out large hoses to spray down the canal.
Later in the week, engineers will perform a safety inspection.
