Volunteers work to keep the Allegheny's riverbanks clean in Natrona, Tarentum as part of 3 rivers effort
Tim Negley of Natrona rolled up his sleeves and collected trash for hours Saturday in an effort to clean up the banks of the Allegheny River and in his hometown.
“We usually go out on the river and have a good time. I just wanted to volunteer and help,” said Negley, a first-time volunteer during the annual Allegheny CleanWays river cleanup.
The two-day event kicked off Saturday at 9 a.m. in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood. It continues Sunday morning in Tarentum.
The goal is to focus on removing debris and trash piled up along the riverbank.
Allegheny CleanWays river cleanup volunteers disembarked Saturday morning from Natrona for a three-hour river cleanup on the Allegheny River. @TribLIVE @VNDNews pic.twitter.com/05s0mW2SCX
— Joyce Hanz (@hanz_joyce) September 10, 2022
Return volunteer Justin McConville, 34, of Natrona recruited Negley this year and regaled his friend with tales of unusual items previously found in the Allegheny.
“One year, I saw a big dead cow floating along,” McConville said. “We don’t collect dead animals. I’ve seen toilets and a bathtub in the river, too.”
McConville has volunteered several years. He’s hopeful more volunteers will join day two of the cleanup on Sunday when volunteers will depart at 9 a.m. from the boat ramp at the Tarentum Bridge.
“I want to keep it clean,” McConville said.
Lyssa Eberhardt, 30, of Pittsburgh’s Strip District, was a first-time participant.
“I’m looking for ways to get involved,” said Eberhardt, who recently moved from Minnesota to Pittsburgh.
Captain Evan Clark of Allegheny CleanWays piloted one of two boats on the Allegheny River on Saturday for three hours.
Clark said cleanup efforts have been ongoing for about 20 years.
Plastic is the No. 1 item collected. According to its website, Allegheny Cleanways volunteers are seeing an increase in plastic pollution, particularly plastic bottles, food wrappers and other single-use plastics in the waterways around Pittsburgh.
“It’s the stuff that comes off of the streets and the land,” Clark said. “Everything from the street can wash down into the rivers.”
Volunteers are provided safety collection gear that included gloves, glasses, life vests (for the boat rides) and litter grabber collection tools.
Items collected Saturday included gas tanks, 55-gallon barrels and dozens of tires.
Volunteers received a safety talk from Clark before departing in three groups, one on land and two by boat, canvassing the riverbanks.
The boats traveled across the river to the Braeburn section of Lower Burrell.
Collected trash will be loaded onto the Allegheny CleanWays barge and delivered to dumpsters located at Lighthouse Marina in New Kensington.
Allegheny Cleanways 2021 Volunteer of the Year Larissa Gula of Carnegie volunteers monthly.
“It hurts me to see pollution,” Gula said. “I volunteer because it’s the right thing to do and I love the outdoors.”
Gula said her most unusual find was a large rubber animal that appears to be a wolf or coyote, plucked from the Ohio River last year.
Natrona resident Bill Godfrey, president of Natrona Comes Together, was among Saturday’s volunteeers.
“We have a river cleanup here to make it a better place,” Godfrey said. “We’re working here and anything positive here is what we’ve been doing for 17 years.”
This year, the river of focus for Allegheny Cleanways in the Allegheny River.
Cleanup locations this year include Freeport, Natrona, Tarentum, New Kensington, Cheswick, Springdale, Verona, Blawnox, Aspinwall, Sharpsburg, Millvale and the City of Pittsburgh.
The organization cycles between the Monogahela, Ohio and Allegheny rivers.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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