Jul 8, 2002 By Jackie Beranek 2 min read

MELCROFT – The Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) recently hosted a stream cleanup as part of the 13th Annual River Sweep. The river sweep is an annual six-state effort to clean up the banks of waterways in the Ohio River watershed. It is the largest organized volunteer river cleanup effort in the country, winding through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Illinois and affecting more than 2,400 miles of shoreline, MWA Executive Director Beverly Braverman said.

The MWA cleanup site is a small dump located along the hiking trail that runs beside Indian Creek from Champion to Donegal. Indian Creek is a tributary of the Youghiogheny River, which eventually drains into the Ohio River.

Amber Eck, Americorps project coordinator for MWA, said 22 volunteers helped with the project and picked up about 200 bags of trash. The volunteers also picked up a refrigerator, stove, sinks, half a car and a variety of smaller household items.

Participants in the event were provided with gloves and trash bags and received a free lunch and T-shirt for their efforts.

Braverman said the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission sponsored the event.

Several corporations also participated, including Allegheny Energy, DuPont, Duquesne Light, Gallatin Steel, Seagram’s and Tri-State River Products.