Arnold Stream Team 211 volunteers recently removed about 600 pounds of trash, 400 pounds of metal and 25 tires from along a 2-mile stretch of the Meramec River in Arnold, said Brian Waldrop, who co-chairs the team with Bernie Arnold.
Waldrop said the Stream Team, which was formed in 1991, recruited 22 volunteers for the annual summer cleanup held Aug. 28.
”We were hoping for more volunteers,” he said.
Despite the lower-than-usual turnout, the volunteers worked hard and collected a lot of trash along the river between Fannie Drive to the railroad tracks near the Mississippi River, Waldrop said.
The Arnold cleanup was part of the Operation Clean Stream program that organized several cleanups in the Meramec watershed from Aug. 22-29.
Waldrop said one of the more unusual items volunteers removed in the latest Arnold cleanup was a washing machine.
He said the river was low enough to allow some volunteers to remove trash from the riverbed.
“When you are walking the Meramec and all of the sudden you feel a mushy place, that is probably a tire,” he said. “It was a blessing to have the Meramec so low. There were no jet boats or prop boats out there running, so it gave us a chance to get out there and pick up some of the trash that accumulates in the Meramec.”
Waldrop said because volunteers were focusing on cleaning up the middle of the river, less attention was paid to the banks than in past cleanup efforts.
“Our goal was to work on the bottom of the river; we were able to do that.”
Waldrop said the volunteers had to deal with hot weather during the four-hour cleanup.
“There was no refuge because there are no trees over the Meramec, and the water was just as warm. It wasn’t like you could get in the water and get cool,” he said.
“We want to thank the volunteers, and the city of Arnold for accepting the trash from us,” Waldrop said. “(The city) plays such a vital role in helping us by taking the trash, and Dobbs Tires takes our tires for free, once we clean them out.”
Waldrop said the Arnold Stream Team plans to hold its annual winter cleanup on the first Saturday in March 2022.
For more information about the group, go the Arnold Stream Team 211 Facebook page or mostreamteam.org.