Thousands of volunteers are expected to participate in this year’s Ohio River Sweep, collecting trash and debris off the banks of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, Pa., to its end in Cairo, Ill. The annual cleanup, sponsored by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), is scheduled for Saturday, June 18.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is coordinating cleanups at 23 sites in 12 counties in West Virginia. The counties are Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Jackson, Marshall, Mason, Ohio, Pleasants, Tyler, Wayne, Wetzel and Wood. Volunteers will be provided with trash bags and gloves and will receive a free T-shirt. Volunteers are not required to register in advance.
The River Sweep is among the largest cleanup events of its kind in the United States. More than 20,000 volunteers from the six states bordering the river are expected to collect over 20,000 tons of trash and debris from the Ohio River and its tributaries. All trash is either recycled or disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner.
For more information from ORSANCO contact 1-800-359-3977. For West Virginia cleanup sites, click here.