MONROE, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Keep Ouachita Parish Beautiful Executive Director, Wayne Heckford, hopes hundreds of people will join him along the Ouachita River, picking up its trash.
At the 7th Annual Ouachita River Water Sweep, starting Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., residents can gather at cleaning bases like the Forsythe Park Boat Dock in Monroe and help make this 510-mile river a little cleaner.
"There are three Keep America Beautiful affiliates plus the Army Corps. of Engineers and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office that are involved," Heckford said.
Last year's results show there's a lot of waste plaguing this river.
"Actually 14 tons," Executive Director for Keep Monroe Beautiful, Gregg Smith, said. "There's 14 tons that were done."
Some of that debris can be harmful to the water and the wildlife.
"There are some things that are in there, especially those that have mercury in them," Smith said.
That has boaters like Swartz resident Josh Taylor, who comes to the river several times every month, worried.
"You're consuming the fish and you're eating them, right?" Taylor said. "You're going to have to stop that first before you can do anything."
Officials said those problems can be avoided with as many volunteers cleaning as possible.
Clean-up officials said they will provide life preservers, bags and litter grabbers as long as volunteers bring their rubber boots, boats and trucks to ferry people across the river.
If you'd like to register and volunteer Saturday morning, you can do so at four different locations:
Forsythe Park Boat Launch, Monroe, La.
Lazarre Park, West Monroe, La.
Moon Lake Recreation Area, Monroe, La.
Sterlington Recreation Area, Sterlington, La.
