6.38 Tons of Trash Removed During Iowa River Cleanup

Low water levels, good weather, and a group of hard-working volunteers all contributed to a successful clean-up of a 9.5-mile stretch of the Iowa River from Iowa City to Hills last Saturday. For seven hours on September 14, volunteers worked to pull 6.38 tons of trash and debris from the river and its banks to protect and improve the river's water quality and make the waterway safer for people to use for recreational purposes.

Carol Sweeting, the City of Iowa City Volunteer Coordinator who helped organize this year's event, reported that 38 paddlers in 20 canoes launched at 8 a.m. from Sturgis Ferry boat ramp in Iowa City, bound for Hills Access, a rural park east of Hills. They filled their canoes with trash removed from the river and sandbars, and offloaded it at designated drop-off points, where 35 other volunteers separated items for recycling or disposal. The trash included 200 old tires (2.47 tons), which will be recycled by Bridgestone Tire's "Spent Tire Recycling Program" in Nashville, Tenn., and 1.38 tons of metal items, which will also be recycled. Numerous odd pieces of garbage were also collected throughout the day: a small safe, a headless rocking horse, couch, water heater, and bed springs, to name a few.

At the end of the event, the Hills Volunteer Fire Department was on hand to help wash out the canoes, while staff from the Iowa City Fire Department and the City's Stormwater Division worked on Sunday to clean up the reclaimed tires which will be picked up for recycling by Bridgestone.

In all, more than 540 volunteer hours were logged for the project, a National Rivers Clean-up-sanctioned event organized by the City of Iowa City, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Project AWARE, and The Iowa Flood Center. Other sponsors and participants included Bridgestone Tire, the Clinton County Conservation Board, Durham School Services, Environmental Advocates of Johnson County, Fin & Feather, Hills Fire Department, Hy-Vee of Iowa City, Iowa River Friends, IOWATER, Izaak Walton League - Johnson County Chapter, Johnson County Conservation Board, Johnson and Iowa County Watershed Coalition, Lower Wapsi River Clean-up Project, Peterson Iron and Metal of Coralville, and Touch the Earth from the University of Iowa.

For more information about the event or to view additional photos, visit www.iarvcp.org or contact Carol Sweeting at carol-sweeting@iowa-city.org or 319/541-2385.