Since 1989, this award-winning cleanup for the Ohio River and its tributaries brings thousands of volunteers to the riverbanks to collect tons of trash and debris. River Sweep encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, PA to its end in Cairo, IL, including nearly 3,000 miles of shoreline and many tributaries.
In Covington work will take place at three different sites:
1. Roebling Bridge Site: the riverbank and greenspaces from the Licking River, under the Roebling Suspension Bridge to Madison Avenue Turnabout – meet at the north end of Greenup Street, under the Suspension Bridge
2. Waterfront Restaurant Site: meet at 14 Pete Rose Pier (the riverbank stretching from Madison Avenue Turnabout to Clay Wade Bailey Bridge)
3. Licking River Greenway Trails – meet at the LRG trail head at Clayton Meyer Park (intersection of Thomas St & Glenway Ave).
All volunteers will receive a light breakfast, lunch, and gloves. Register to work at any of the three sites here. Please dress appropriately. We will be working right up against the river and depending on recent rainfall it could be muddy, have uneven terrain, and varying vegetation in different areas.
More than 18,000 volunteers from public organizations, civic groups, recreational clubs, and the general public in six states bordering the river come together to collect more than 7,000 tons of trash and other debris from the banks of the Ohio River and tributaries.
River Sweep is an event organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, an interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley, along with environmental protection and natural resource agencies from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.