Ohio River Sweep Scheduled for June 20

Volunteers in 10 West Virginia counties are gearing up for the 27th annual Ohio River Sweep, scheduled for Saturday, June 20. The massive cleanup is organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), with help from environmental protection and natural resource agencies. 

Volunteers in six states – West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania – will remove trash and debris from the banks of the Ohio and its tributaries. The cleanup encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh to its end in Cairo, Ill., and will cover more than 3,000 miles of shoreline.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is coordinating West Virginia’s participation in the River Sweep. Cleanups are scheduled at more than 20 sites in 10 counties: Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Jackson, Marshall, Mason, Ohio, Tyler, Wetzel and Wood. Cleanup supplies and T-shirts will be provided to volunteers.

For more information on volunteering, contact the DEP’s Greg Rote at 1-800-322-5530, ext. 1270 or Gregory.A.Rote@wv.gov. A list of West Virginia’s cleanup locations can be found at www.OhioRiverSweep.org.

ORSANCO is an interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley.

For more DEP news and information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, be sure to connect with the agency on all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter and find us on YouTube by searching “Environment Matters.” For specific information about the Adopt-A-Highway, West Virginia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), West Virginia NonPoint Source, Human Resources and Youth Environmental Program initiatives, connect on Facebook. 
 
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