trees along Mon River

These trees were very beautiful this spring, in late March. A little early because of the warm weather. These are at Morgantown, mile 101 on the Monongahela River.

American Rivers Mon Cleanup in April

I've registered with Americans Rivers to do a cleanup on the Mon River on April 14, Saturday.
Let me know if you want to help. This will be the earliest summer cleanup since I started doing these back in 2006. Usually I don't even get the Monongahela Monitor into the water from her winter boat-yard lay-up until the end of April. But we've pretty much skipped April this spring, haven't we? We will begin at 9 a.m. and be back around 2-3 p.m. Walnut Street boat launch. If you are interested in helping, just comment.

705, Stewartstown Rd. Cleanup Successful

It's really easy to know if you've had a success when you do a litter cleanup. No one got hurt, everyone is smiling and you have 28 bags of litter picked up. (Click photos to enlarge)

So, writing that headline was easy.

Thanks to several groups, listed below, we did get 705, The Orchard Bypass, from the intersection at Stewartstown Road cleaned and from the intersection down Stewartstown Rd. to the bottom of the hill. And no one was run over.




The folks that helped can tell you I was worried about that. Thanks, everyone.

The litter we picked up might have been washed into West Run, which enters the Mon River down near the end of Collins Ferry Rd. See the satellite shot at bottom.

Also, we got to use the Burma Shave signs, produced by the Litter Control folks. Thanks!

Alpha Delta Lambda Honorary
Community Medicine Student Association
WVU Political Science Students
Sierra Club of Morgantown
Monongahela River Revival




Financial support was provided from a grant made possible by IMPACT Earth and the Mon County Solid Waste Authority and Litter Control. Supplies, including the great big orange road signs, were provided by the WV Department of Highways.

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Burma shave against litter!

Hey, if you are driving on Rt. 705 this weekend going toward the Mileground (Rt. 119) you'll see some Burma Shave signs. Remember them? We'll you couldn't unless you are in your 60s. These were signs put out in sequence along the roads in the 1920s-50s to sell a product.

On Friday evening, 3-9, we are putting these signs out along Rt. 705 (the Orchard Bypass) to draw attention to the litter out there.
Then on Sunday morning, 3-11, we'll be picking it up!

So, if you are out that way, honk if you see us and give our volunteers a thumbs up!

The Mon River Revival organized this with support from IMPACT Earth and volunteers from WVU's Alpha Lambda Delta, Dr. Hunter's political science capstone class, the Community Medicine Student Association and the Sierra Club.

Oh, what will our signs say? you ask.

Litter So Bad
Makes Us All Sad
Let's Clean It Up
And Then Be Glad

Did you know there are 5 ocean plastic "gyres?" These are currents in the oceans that trap plastic junk... forever.

Take a look. Very informative. http://5gyres.org/

This site has given me a great idea: I want kids in the area to help me build a boat from plastic off the river!
There's a demo video on the 5gyres site. Must do this summer! http://vimeo.com/29634644

What's up at Opekiska Dam

My wife and I took a trip to the southwest portion of Monongalia County on Tuesday and stopped by Opekiska Dam. The photos (click them for closer view) I took show a lot of debris ready to come downriver to places like Morgantown. The trees and tree limbs are natural. But look closely at all the bottles, plastic, tires, etc. This shameful. What's worse, little is being done about it. (Please note the US flag and the Corps of Engineers flag flying over this mess across the river).

We try to clean up what we can during the summer months in the Morgantown area. But looking at this was disturbing and, I'll admit, disheartening. That we simply flush this down stream, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, is wrong. It's just wrong. That it's there in the first place is a statement about humans and their ways. It's there. It's waiting to come our way.

But here's the interesting point. There is a crane on top of the dam superstructure, right above this mess. That crane (see below) could dip this stuff up, deposit it on the shore for disposal - probably in two or three days of work. But guess what? The crane doesn't work. That's the word I received from a representative of the Corps of Engineers. So, status quo.

All this is coming down the river, down the river and out into the oceans. The Corps of Engineers doesn't have money to fix the crane, so there's no use discussing it. Seems like the same kinds of answers always come from that direction. Well, perhaps they always have the same kinds of funding problems. I don't know. But I'd be willing to get a petition drive going to get money to fix the crane and get this mess out of the river.



After working in the Morgantown area to clean up the litter since 2005, I now realize that the answer to the problem is here at Opekiska Dam. The litter should be removed here before it even heads down to Hildebrand and Morgantown. I should say the solution to the problem is to not have it in the river in the first place, but that's a long-term effort. For the short term, we need to do something here. And I believe the US Corps of Engineers should be part of the solutions.

I am starting a fundraising effort to pay for next summer and our winter cleanups. The Mon Valley Green Space Coalition is the 501c3 non-profit that takes care of all donations and funds for our river effort. Further funding from the City of Morgantown is doubtful, so our plans to expand and do more river miles of cleanup are in jeopardy. Help if you can. Next month I plan to organize people around the Evertteville area, above Hildebrand Lock and Dam, to do some cleanups along the creeks leading to the Mon - before the spring rains washes litter down.

Hope this works!