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After this year's flooding there is no telling what may be washed up on the banks of the Ohio River, but odds are most of it is junk that needs hauled to a landfill.
Beginning 10 a.m. Saturday is the Ohio River Sweep, the annual clean up of the river's banks organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Volunteers can show up at the Old Shawneetown City Park, Cave-In-Rock State Park or the Golconda Marina to pick up garbage bags, gloves and a T-shirt and begin scavenging the banks.
"We never know what we're going to find. One year we found a wedding dress. We've found a telephone booth, class rings, a lot of jewelry and a check for $350,000 that had never been cashed," Ohio River Sweep spokeswoman Jeanne Ison said.
The crews recycle what items they can and take the rest to landfills.
"Last year in Pennsylvania alone we recycled 4,000 tires actually pulled out of the river," Ison said.
Ison said interest among Southern Illinoisans is traditionally strong in part because of the co-organizing efforts of the IEPA.
ORSANCO was organized to help clean up river pollution and improve the appearance of the river. ORSANCO is a water pollution control agency for the Ohio River and its tributaries funded by the six states along the river and by the federal government. One of its duties is monitoring aquatic life for evidence of pollution.
"We do a lot of things so the individual states don't have to do them," Ison said.
The Ohio River Sweep began in 1989 as a cleanup and marketing effort for the river.
"For many years people thought the Ohio River was still very dirty and polluted. The water quality is much better than it used to be," Ison said.
But when people see tires and trash on the banks, they think of the river as a dirty place.
"We wanted to do something to get people to the river, get them back to the river and help the environment," Ison said.
Corporate sponsors of the Ohio River Sweep are an Illinois SCALE grant, CSX Railroad, Toyota, Duke Energy and ORSANCO.
- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
After this year's flooding there is no telling what may be washed up on the banks of the Ohio River, but odds are most of it is junk that needs hauled to a landfill.
Beginning 10 a.m. Saturday is the Ohio River Sweep, the annual clean up of the river's banks organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Volunteers can show up at the Old Shawneetown City Park, Cave-In-Rock State Park or the Golconda Marina to pick up garbage bags, gloves and a T-shirt and begin scavenging the banks.
"We never know what we're going to find. One year we found a wedding dress. We've found a telephone booth, class rings, a lot of jewelry and a check for $350,000 that had never been cashed," Ohio River Sweep spokeswoman Jeanne Ison said.
The crews recycle what items they can and take the rest to landfills.
"Last year in Pennsylvania alone we recycled 4,000 tires actually pulled out of the river," Ison said.
Ison said interest among Southern Illinoisans is traditionally strong in part because of the co-organizing efforts of the IEPA.
ORSANCO was organized to help clean up river pollution and improve the appearance of the river. ORSANCO is a water pollution control agency for the Ohio River and its tributaries funded by the six states along the river and by the federal government. One of its duties is monitoring aquatic life for evidence of pollution.
"We do a lot of things so the individual states don't have to do them," Ison said.
The Ohio River Sweep began in 1989 as a cleanup and marketing effort for the river.
"For many years people thought the Ohio River was still very dirty and polluted. The water quality is much better than it used to be," Ison said.
But when people see tires and trash on the banks, they think of the river as a dirty place.
"We wanted to do something to get people to the river, get them back to the river and help the environment," Ison said.
Corporate sponsors of the Ohio River Sweep are an Illinois SCALE grant, CSX Railroad, Toyota, Duke Energy and ORSANCO.
- DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
