Jacksonville man says selfie shows city worker polluting St. Johns River

Robert Field was playing Pokemon Go along the river walk when he said he saw a worker blowing trash into the water with a leaf blower.

“Ruined my Pokemon day,” said Field. “Not collecting it. Not trying to get it out of the river. They were just blowing it out of the way and right into the river.”

He took a selfie with that worker and his leaf blower in the background and then posted it on Facebook.

City spokesperson Marsha Oliver said the photo appears to show a parks maintenance staffer and that the Parks Department is working to find out who it is.

Trending on ActionNewsJax.com:

• Ebron writes letters, pins blame on Lonzie's father
• Funds frozen, inquiry begun on homeless student's story
• Police: Florida man rams into black family with confederate flag van
• Mother says 2-year-old died in her arms
• Noodles & Company restaurant slammed after police officer denied service

Oliver said while it’s not clear from the photo what that worker is doing, workers are not supposed to use leaf blowers at the river walk to blow trash.

She said the city will now do refresher training for its 100-plus parks maintenance staffers.

An email from the city’s environmental protection board administrator to St. Johns Riverkeeper said there could be “punitive measures” against the Parks Department.

“This trash just can’t keep going into the river,” said Field.

In the meantime, Field said he hopes everyone does their part by not leaving trash on the river walk in the first place.

Cox Media Group