Here's a few links of news stories about the Confluence Trash Bash on Saturday, March 26. The massive urban cleanup was organized by Confluence Partnership, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, St. Louis Audubon and a long list of partners. Missouri River Relief took 32 volunteers out on the Missouri River to clean-up two sites. One of these sites was an abandoned farm dump on the Cora Island Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge. We've been working on cleaning up that site for three years.
Here's a link to the Fox Channel 2 story on the cleanup
The St. Louis Post Dispatch published this following story on March 27, 2011.
Click here for original link
by Blythe Berhard
Volunteers picked up everything and the kitchen sink at the annual Confluence Trash Bash river cleanup Saturday at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.
Ben Duncan, 10, won the prize for weirdest article of trash for spotting a ceramic sink in the bushes off Hall Street near the Mississippi riverfront in north St. Louis.
The fourth-grader came with his Cub Scout pack to get dirty and collect junk. The boys scaled their hill of garbage bags and discarded tires to pose for pictures before public works staffers hauled it away.
"It's fun because we do stuff that guys like us like to do," Ben said.
About 540 people showed up to hunt for rubbish and clear away debris alongside several creeks that feed into the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers. Snow flurries and temperatures in the low 30s may have scared off many others among the 800 who registered. Last year's event attracted 600 people.
Organizers said the final weight of the trash collected would be tallied on Monday. Nearly 41 tons of refuse were picked up last year.
"Although we may not have reached the same amount of tons as we did last year, with so much of the 'floaty, blowy' paper trash that was picked up and so many volunteers seeing what a remarkable difference it makes, that's good in my book," said Natalie Johnson of the Confluence Partnership, a conservation group for the region where the rivers meet.
Along with the beautification benefits, the goal of the event is to raise awareness of the effects of littering and inspire volunteers and passers-by to advocate for clean waterways, Johnson said.
They gained a believer in Brianne Benson, who volunteered through AmeriCorps Trail Rangers.
"I won't be littering, because this is a hard job," said Benson, 20, whose haul included tires and battered furniture.
Other discarded items ranged from the scary (Halloween mask) to ironic (vacuum cleaner) and depressing (bag of dead puppies). Workers also found an opossum skull, a deer jawbone and a tennis racquet.
A Metro employee identification card turned up, along with a toy light saber and several well-loved teddy bears.
Some volunteers hiked across Riverview Drive from the bridge and foraged through invasive bush honeysuckle plants to snag polystyrene foam, plastic and paper waste. Others ferried out in boats to collect trash from riverbanks and islands in the Mississippi.
David Kuechenmeister of the Missouri Stream Team wore thigh-high waders for his foray into the chilly water.
"This is your drinking water, and everybody doesn't realize they're polluting it by throwing this stuff out," said Kuechenmeister, 49, of Jennings.
When asked what kind of stuff he pulled from the water, Kuechenmeister replied, "You name it."
After three hours of garbage picking, volunteers gathered at Old Chain of Rocks Bridge for a lighthearted awards ceremony to honor the biggest, weirdest and most valuable catches of the day — a 3-by-4-foot mirror, the sink and a plastic baggie of marijuana, respectively.
Afterward, the illegal drugs got an appropriate disposal.
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