Ohio River Sweep 2013

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 nearly 3,000 miles of shoreline and many tributaries.

More than 20,000 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 15, 2013

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, presented $500 to Abigail Taphorn, the 2013 T-shirt winner of the River Sweep poster contest.  Her artwork will be printed on the T-shirts given to all volunteers in six states participating in the 2013 River Sweep.  Abigail is a senior at Colerain High School in Cincinnati, OH.

Below: Ison presents a check for $500 to Amy Willis for her grand-prize winning poster in the Ohio River Sweep poster contest.  Amy is a junior at Parkersburg South High School in Parkersburg, WV.  Her artwork will be used in all promotional materials for the 2013 Sweep.  Also pictured, left to right, is John Reed and Jim Smith.  Mr. Reed is the River Sweep Coordinator in Wood Co., WV, and Mr. Smith is Amy's art teacher at Parkersburg South High School.  Mr. Smith was also presented a $100 check for Parkersburg South's art department.