CHARLESTON, W.Va. (June 12, 2019) – Volunteers
in 11 West Virginia counties are gearing up for the 31st annual Ohio
River Sweep, set for Saturday. The massive cleanup is organized by the Ohio
River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), with help from several
states’ environmental protection and natural resource agencies.
More than 21,000 volunteers from six states –
West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania – come
together each year to remove more than 20,000 tons of trash and other debris
from the banks of the Ohio River and its tributaries. The cleanup encompasses
the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh to its end in
Cairo, Ill., and covers more than 3,000 miles of shoreline.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection (WVDEP) is coordinating West Virginia’s participation in the River
Sweep. Cleanups are scheduled at 18 sites in 11 counties: Brooke, Cabell,
Hancock, Jackson, Marshall, Mason, Ohio, Pleasants, Tyler, Wetzel and Wood.
Cleanup supplies and T-shirts will be provided. A list of West Virginia's
cleanup locations can be found here.
ORSANCO is an interstate water pollution agency
for the Ohio River Valley. The cleanup is sponsored by AEP River Operations,
CSX, Dominion Foundation, Dow Corning Foundation, DuPont Washington Works,
Marathon Oil Corporation, and West Virginia American Water.
For more WVDEP news and
information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, connect with the agency on
all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter, Like us on Facebook
at https://www.facebook.com/depwv/, and find us on YouTube by
searching “Environment
Matters.”
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