Volunteers Clean Ouachita River
By: Brittney Johnson
Updated: August 1, 2009
Chairs, tires and styrofoam, oh my. These are just a few of the items found in the Ouachita river during Watersweep 2009.
Park Ranger Diane Cook said, "This is ignorance at its finest."
Cook is a resource specialist with the Corps of Engineers, which hosts the clean-up project. She says most people don't see the trouble with a little trash.
Cook said, "They look at it like this little bit can't hurt anything. Well you see what this little bit added up to in one day. There's no telling how many tons we've picked up today."
The corps partners with local environmental groups and draws dozens of volunteers. This group is from a local recovery center. They say they're excited to do their part.
Rusty Woods said, "We're here putting something back into society and maybe putting something back instead of what we've done before, taken away."
Since many people throw odd objects into and around the river volunteers have *plenty* to pick up. Two barges travelled up and down the river taking objects found by other boats. On top of regular trash, they found a few peculiar pieces.
We're not at Register and Trenton, we're at the Forsythe Park boat ramp. This is just one of the really unusual things they found at the bottom of the river.
Mayor Jamie Mayo was among the volunteers at Forsythe park. He says he doesn't know what this piece of electrical equipment is on the bank. But like all the other trash, it doesn't belong.
Park Ranger Diane Cook said, "This is ignorance at its finest."
Cook is a resource specialist with the Corps of Engineers, which hosts the clean-up project. She says most people don't see the trouble with a little trash.
Cook said, "They look at it like this little bit can't hurt anything. Well you see what this little bit added up to in one day. There's no telling how many tons we've picked up today."
The corps partners with local environmental groups and draws dozens of volunteers. This group is from a local recovery center. They say they're excited to do their part.
Rusty Woods said, "We're here putting something back into society and maybe putting something back instead of what we've done before, taken away."
Since many people throw odd objects into and around the river volunteers have *plenty* to pick up. Two barges travelled up and down the river taking objects found by other boats. On top of regular trash, they found a few peculiar pieces.
We're not at Register and Trenton, we're at the Forsythe Park boat ramp. This is just one of the really unusual things they found at the bottom of the river.
Mayor Jamie Mayo was among the volunteers at Forsythe park. He says he doesn't know what this piece of electrical equipment is on the bank. But like all the other trash, it doesn't belong.
