Since 1989, this award-winning cleanup for the Ohio River and its tributaries brings thousands of volunteers to the riverbanks to collect tons of trash and debris. River Sweep encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, PA to its end in Cairo, IL, including 1,962 miles of shoreline and many tributaries.

More than 21,000 volunteers from public organizations, civic groups, recreational clubs, and the general public in six states bordering the river come together to collect more than 20,000 tons of trash and other debris from the banks of the Ohio River and tributaries.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

River Sweep is an event organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, an interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley, along with environmental protection and natural resource agencies from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Above: Jeanne Ison, Project Director of the Ohio River Sweep, presents $500 to Zeke Freshour, the 2012 Grand Prize winner of the River Sweep poster contest.  Zeke is a senior at Ripley High School, Ripley, WV.  In addition to the River Sweep Posters, his artwork will also be printed on brochures and other promotional materials for the 2012 Sweep.

Below: Jeanne Ison presents the 2012 River Sweep T-shirt to poster contest winner Rhiannon Perkins, a sixth grade student at Mulberry Elementary School, Milford, OH.  Rhiannon’s photo won the T-shirt design and received $500 for her winning entry.  Her design will be featured on all Ohio River Sweep T-shirts given to volunteers in all six states.