On May 18, we held our first River Cleanup of the year on the Youghiogheny River in West Newton, PA!
MWA hosts river and roadside cleanups in the Youghiogheny River watershed from May through September. Our awesome volunteers make the work light and the day fun!
Despite a rainy weather forecast, we still had a great showing! About 25 willing helpers joined us at the West Newton boat launch to float the river and pick up trash along the way.
After a short shuttle to our launch at Cedar Creek Park, most of the volunteers paired off in teams of two. (Our favorite river cleanup technique is to have partners paddle two canoes at once. The boats are lashed together at the middle with webbing – that way, they’re more stable when loaded down with trash!)
The crew paddled at a relaxed pace downstream, looking for large pieces of trash like tires or appliances. In this section of the Yough, we focus mostly on a spot we like to call “Tire Island.” Tire Island is formed where a small stream flows into the river. Over the years, hundreds of tires have accumulated here.
Although ubiquitous in our daily life, tires are full of toxic compounds. They contain aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and sulfur, as well as a high level of zinc. Tires also contain plasticizers and accelerators used during the vulcanizing process. InĀ addition, rubber can also absorb heavy metals like lead. As the tires break down over the years, these toxic substances leach out, contaminating the river.Ā
We’re working to get as many toxic tires out of the Yough as we can – one river cleanup at a time!
Piling those items into boats is hard work, but it’s fun!
Once all the boats were full, the group paddled back to West Newton, where they unloaded all the tires and garbage, then enjoyed a refreshing beverage at Bloom Brew!
In total, there were 186 passenger car/light truck tires and 7 large 22.5ā€¯ truck tires, in addition to a dumpster full of other trash. And there’s lots more where those came from!
We’d like to thank all of our volunteers, as well as Hazelbaker’s Canoe Rentals, Wilderness Voyageurs, Bloom Brew, Westmoreland Cleanways, and Pascarella Disposal for helping us make this event happen!