Photo by Jim Swanson Volunteers remove one of many loads of recyclable metal retrieved from the Allegheny River during the 13th Annual Allegheny River Cleanup in 2021.

The 14h annual Allegheny River Cleanup will take place from Thursday, Sept. 15, to Saturday, Sept. 17.

The work will focus on three separate stretches of the river in Warren County.

“On Thursday the 15th, we’ll be working on the stretch from Buckaloons to Wildwood Inn,” organizer David Snyder said. “Friday, Sept. 16th, we’ll work between Wildwood Inn and Tidioute. And finally, Saturday the 17th will be spent on the stretch from Allegheny Outfitters to Buckaloons.”

Organizers are looking for volunteers.

“The effort will require about 40 volunteers each day and participants must sign up in advance,” Snyder said. The cleanup website is alleghenyrivercleanup.com/volunteer.html

Those volunteers will be part of an event that has, since 2005, seen about 4,700 volunteers put in more than 35,500 hours and removed 820 cubic yards of trash, 16,782 tires, and 147,000 pounds — 70 tons — of recyclable metal from the river.

In 2021 alone, “184 volunteers removed 2,675 pounds of recyclable metal, 66 tires, and 33 cubic yards of trash from the Allegheny River,” according to Snyder. “By energizing hundreds of community volunteers to become active, committed stewards of western Pennsylvania’s aquatic resources, the annual Allegheny River Cleanup provides residents and visitors the opportunity to improve the health of aquatic ecosystems, and restore natural beauty by reducing accumulations of trash — mainly plastics, tires and metals — in the waters and on the shorelines of the Allegheny River, her tributaries, and the Allegheny Reservoir.”

As part of the event, a dumpster will be available to accept recyclable metal from Sept. 10 through 17 in the AutoZone parking lot on Market Street in North Warren. “No garbage, tires, batteries, or electronics, please,” Snyder said.