Let the cleaning begin
Saturday marks official start of annual cleanup
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What do some tires, a futon frame, a car bumper, a weed whacker, some roofing shingles, pipe from oil wells, and a tailfin assembly from a 1960's era Cadillac have in common?
They're all items that were pulled from the water during Saturday's kickoff for the 9th annual Allegheny River Cleanup. According to Ron Keeney, of the Conewango Creek Watershed Association and one of the river cleanup organizers, this year is starting out basically by the book.
The cleanup has been going on since 2008, according to the event's website, and has seen nearly 3.000 people donate almost 24,000 hours to pull almost 450 cubic yards of trash from the water, including television sets, microwave ovens, lawn chairs, refrigerators, drums, tires and recyclable metal, glass, plastic, and aluminum. They've also found drainage culverts, fencing, and all sorts of tools over the years, Keeney said.
One difference however, said Keeney, is that the water is higher and swifter than usual, which meant that the boat crews on Saturday got out of the water much sooner than in years past. Crews left from Larimer Park in Russell and paddled to Front Street, off Conewango Avenue just past Lindell's Hatch Patch, collecting garbage and items in their canoes and kayaks as they went.
"Everything on that truck has been in someone's canoe or their kayak," said Keeney, pointing to a trailer filled with metal, barrels, plastic, garbage, tires, and pipe among other things. The trash is sorted, said Keeney, and metals are recycled. "Garbage goes to our dumpster and will be disposed of," said Keeney, "and this year Warren Tire is donating the tire disposal service for us." As of 3 p.m. on Saturday over a dozen tires had been recovered from the water and shoreline.
Keeney said that Nate Welker, Fisheries Biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, had taken a crew north into Akeley on Saturday as well, and had reported to Keeney Saturday afternoon that that crew had also filled a truck.
The cleanup will go on until Saturday, Sept. 16.
Monday, Sept. 11, said Keeney, crews will launch at Front Street off Conewango Avenue and Paddle to Point Park in downtown Warren. Tuesday, Sept. 12, the cleanup will go from Wildwood to Tidioute. Crews will break on Wednesday and Thursday, said Keeney, before picking back up on Friday, Sept. 15, when they will paddle from Tidioute to West Hickory, and the cleanup will end on Saturday, Sept. 16 with a paddle from Point Park to Buckaloons Campground in Irvine.
According to Keeney, the cleanup happens rain or shine and is only canceled in the event of lighting and thunder, inclement or severe weather, and dangerously high or fast water.
"We've been blessed with the weather this year," said Keeney, "and we're not expecting any lighting or weather problems." The water, said Keeney, should be fine Monday and Tuesday, but with Hurricane Irma expected to affect weather starting midweek, it remained to be seen whether that would change or not. Keeney said, though, that there's no expectation that the weather would threaten the last two days of cleanup.
Keeney said that anyone who volunteers for the cleanup is invited to the River Riot Wrap-Up, where participants can enjoy food and music and just celebrate the Allegheny River, the 2017 Pennsylvania River of the Year.
Learn more about the cleanup by searching Allegheny River Cleanup on Facebook or by visiting www.alleghenyrivercleanup.com.