News & Events

River sweep kicks off at landing
By MARK J. MILLER , Staff writer
(originally appeared in the Steubenville Herald Star)

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TORONTO — Volunteers, business sponsors and agency officials Tuesday gathered at Newburg Landing Park to kick off this year’s River Sweep.

The 18th-annual cleanup along the banks of the Ohio River this year is scheduled for June 17 and is being coordinated by the Jefferson County Recycling and Litter Prevention agency and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. Agency officials are looking for volunteers willing to meet at four sites in Jefferson County this year, including the Hammondsville Yellow Creek Watershed, coordinated by Natilie Lysle; Newburg Landing, coordinated by Jane Dever; the Steubenville Marina, coordinated by Patti West; and in Yorkville on old state Route 7, coordinated by the Rev. Tom Thomas.

This year volunteers will scour 3,000 miles of riverbank in eight states from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Ill., picking up garbage and debris, according to Jeanne Ison, River Sweep ORVWSC project director.

“In the years River Sweep has been in operation, more than 80 million tons of trash and debris have been removed from the Ohio River,” said Ison, adding participating states include Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, New York and Virginia. “Each winter, a new supply of debris, some natural and some man-made, collects along the river, especially after a flood or high water. Last year more than 20,000 people gave up their normal Saturday morning pursuits to collect more than 9,000 tons of trash, which was then recycled or deposited into landfills.

“The Ohio River is a great natural resource providing drinking water to more than 3 million people from Pittsburgh to Cairo,” Ison continued. “Helping clean it up and keep it clean are ways to show our respects to this wonderful river.”

Diane Julio, recycling and litter prevention director, said each volunteer will receive a free River Sweep 2006 T-shirt. Julio also said last year’s local River Sweep effort resulted in 379 volunteers collecting 250 bags of litter and other large debris along the riverbank.

“We should have at least 200 volunteers this year,” said Julio, who thanked volunteers and business sponsors for their support for this year’s effort. “We have a lot of new faces and a lot of old faces.”

Pat Lanagan, director of the Belmont-Jefferson Regional Solid Waste Authority, also praised the efforts of volunteers and participating agencies. Business sponsors said they were glad to assist this year’s River Sweep effort.

“Anything that helps to beautify our community is a wonderful cause,” said Scott Stewart, store director of Riesbeck’s Food Market. “We support the community and its cleanup.”

“Wal-Mart likes to be involved with the community,” said Greg McGough, co-manager of Wal-Mart, about the store’s River Sweep sponsorship. “Wal-Mart wants us to have a clean community.”

“TIMET (corp.) is trying to become more and more active in the community,” said Tom Bortoff, environmental engineer at TIMET. “We want to help this environmental cleanup.”

Other local business sponsors include Choice Brands of Ohio, Bob Evans Restaurant, Pepsi-Cola Distributing Co., Tim Horton’s, American Electric Power, Safety Solutions and Maryland Market.

Toronto Mayor John Geddis also praised the River Sweep participants.

“It’s great for the community and the Ohio River,” said Geddis.

To volunteer or for information, call (740) 283-8614 for times and sites.

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