River Parks Working To Clean Up River

Fishermen catch catfish and stripers from the Arkansas River. Thanks to a clean-up project, they'll have less of a chance of pulling out a tire or a shoe. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports

Friday, November 30th 2007, 9:23 pm

By: News On 6

Fishermen catch catfish and stripers from the Arkansas River. Thanks to a clean-up project, they'll have less of a chance of pulling out a tire or a shoe. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports tons of junk winds up in the river, but now the River Parks Authority is cleaning up the clutter. When the water levels drop, the heavy equipment wades out into the riverbed and scoops up years of garbage.

"A lot of this junk that you see here has probably been in there for decades. We just haven't had the funding or equipment to get it out. Now we had an opportunity to do it and we're taking advantage of it," said Matt Meyer of the River Parks Authority.

Crews have pulled out hundreds of feet of old sewer lines and a mess of tangled re-bar. They've also fished more than 500 car tires out of the river, enough to put on 125 cars.

"It's sort of surprising when you see it in one place. When it's scattered out, it's not as apparent," said Meyer.

The biggest surprise pulled out of the river was what used to be a car. It had a steering wheel and the tachometer. Based on what was found, it is probably a 1970s GM but as you can imagine, there wasnâ€™t any information about who it belongs to.

Funding for the project came from a six-figure settlement with Sinclair Refinery. The River Parks Authority plans to take debris out of the river from 11th Street, all the way down to 71st Street.

Watch the video: Clearing Debris From The Arkansas River