PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – SOLVE, a partner with KOIN 6 News, wrapped up their Summer Waterways Cleanup Series at High Rocks Park on Thursday.
The series, which lasted four months and consisted of 73 cleanups along areas such as the Willamette and Columbia rivers, was part of an effort to protect Oregon’s waterways.
Officials with SOLVE say that volunteers with the nonprofit remove items ranging from automobile parts or large furniture to small items like plastic bags, bottle caps, food wrappers and cigarette butts, adding that “even the smallest bits of trash can be harmful to fish and other wildlife.”
Greg Geist, the director of Clackamas Water Environment Services (WES), said places like High Rocks tend to carry a lot of trash.
“It’s very important that we find places like this and clean them up, and we do find a lot of trash,” Geist said. “Like I said, we found over 50,000 pounds this year in 15 events in our watershed.”
This year marks the sixth annual Summer Waterways Cleanup Series.
