Ohio River Sweep 2019 sees less trash in river than ever before

June 16, 2019 | 3:13 am

Updated June 16, 2019 | 7:37 am

People of all ages came out to help with Ohio River cleanup on Saturday morning. | Photo by Ashley Sorce

Ohio River River Sweep 2019 took place on Saturday across six states and 3,000 miles. Daviess County River Sweep Director Scott Payne said this year’s cleanup effort differed from any other sweep Payne has done in the past.

While those who volunteer for the local river sweep normally remove tons of debris and trash from the riverbank, this year’s sweep saw far less trash than years past.

Even more, this year’s sweep saw far more volunteers show up to participate in the cleaning.

Photo by Ashley Sorce

“This was our biggest event yet,” Payne said. “We had 36 people come out to volunteer. The trash is down — the common household trash.”

While volunteers did discover and clean up a large tire dump by Little Hurricane, the rest of that area was far cleaner than Payne had ever seen it before.

“Normally it’s really bad,” Payne said. “It makes you wonder if that’s a trend we’re going to start seeing, where people are becoming more aware.”

Payne said his river sweep teams have seen illegal dumping in years past, but what they mostly see is common household trash that’s either separated itself from bigger trash piles or been thrown out illegally.

“It’s like the sock that gets left in the dryer,” Payne said of the loose trash his teams find along the Ohio River shoreline.

Payne was surprised by the reduced amount of trash collected by his above-average number of volunteers but said he’s grateful that people are becoming more aware of the damages of illegal trash dumping and pollution.

“I was very surprised. Normally it’s a scramble to get everything done. They usually pick up our trash after lunchtime. We were done by 9:30 today,” Payne said. “I think people are becoming more aware of that lost piece of trash. The river is the artery of the nation and our area–to keep it clean for commerce and recreation is crucial.”

Payne said his team had a blast on Saturday, despite the lighter load they had to carry and that volunteers of all participated in the effort.

Photo by Ashley Sorce

“I don’t have any crazy stories to tell this year — normally I’ll have everyone share a crazy story about the items they found while cleaning up,” Payne said. “We didn’t have any crazy finds this year.”

Payne said Owensboro Public Works sanitation department will collect the trash and weigh it Monday morning to determine the weight of the trash gathered.

 

June 16, 2019 | 3:13 am

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