Big River Cleanup at the Confluence 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Sioux Passage County Park, St. Louis, MO
A fantastic day on the Missouri River cleaning up 5 TONS of trash with 184 new and old friends. Thank you to everyone that participated!
This clean-up was originally planned to be at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area (hence the name), but when repairs from this winter's flooding took longer than anticipated, we moved the whole thing to Sioux Passage Park, 11 miles upstream from the Confluence. Our thanks to the staff of Sioux Passage Park for their help in making this transition.

Our deepest gratitude to our sponsors - Missouri American Water, Rio Vista Fund, St. Louis- Jefferson Solid Waste Management District, REI St. Louis, Cannoli's, Missouri Department of Conservation, Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources, Hulston Family Foundation, Walmart and Pat Jones. We couldn't do it without you!
And a huge thanks to our Partners - Columbia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office / Ecological Services, St. Louis County Parks, Dobbs Tire & Auto Centers,Metropolitan St Louis Sewer District, Ace Scrap Metal Processors, Domino's Pizza (Florissant), Missouri Stream Teams, and the League of Watershed Guardians, Missouri Stream Team 5168!

Trash Tally
- 202 bags of trash!!
- 68 tires
- 6 chunks o Styrofoam
- 2 refrigerators
- 1 chest freezer
- 3 propane tanks
- 4 helium tanks shot full of holes
- 1 water softener tank
- 3 chairs
- 1 buoy
- 6 coolers
- 11 5-gal. plastic buckets
- 12 55-gal. plastic barrels
- 5 55-gal. metal drums
- 1 25-gal. metal drum
- 1 chunk o’ plastic
- 4 mineral buckets
- 1 car bumper
- 1 crank shaft
- 1 jet ski
- 1 truck bed liner
- 1 gas tank
- 2 plastic barricades
- Assorted metal – 5
- 1 foot of PVC pipe
- 1 wooden crate
- 1 paint can
- 1 cloth tarp
- 2 pieces of wood with nails
- 1 curve ahead sign
- 11.4 mile marker sign
- 1 floating dock
- 1 fishing pole
- 1 roundup sprayer
- 1 trash can lid
- 5 small buckets
- 1 sled
- 1 piece of a swing set
- 1 baby bottle
- 1 glow stick still in the wrapper
Trash Contest
Best Darned Find of the Day
- 1 Dinosaur
- Mr. Potato Head
Weirdest Trash
- 1 red light bulb
Biggest Trash
- Styrofoam Cornerstone block
- duck decoy
- Space Panda
Oldest
- can of WD-40
- fuse
Best Muddy Ball
- Basket balls
- Nerf ball with tail
- Sponge Bob ball
- Gold ball
- Bocci ball
- Golf ball
Animal Find
- 1 Scooby Doo
- 1 (Plastic)Duck
- 1 (Plastic) Cow
- 1 Snake Skin
- 1 dead Turtle
Most Artistic Trash
- 1 bottle of blue glitter
- 1 green bottle of plato
- 1 18th hole golf sign
Most Fashionable
- 1 pair of wet shoes
- 1 hard hat
- 1 cell phone cover
- 1 tie
- 1 flip flop
Most Useful
- 1 hat
- 1 car grill
- 1 syringe medicine bottle
- 1 light bulb
- 1 comb pick
- 1 distributor
- 1 BSA survival back pack
- 1 USPS mail tray
Most likely to be Used as a Weapon
- 1 machete holder
- 1 shotgun shell
- 1 pipe wrench
Confluence Cleanup Results
Check out the amazing photos on Flickr!
Read More about the event on 1Mississippi's Blog!
- "Many Hands Make Light Work - Group Accomplishments Along the River" by Tanner Aljets
Total Volunteers: 184
- Volunteers signed in: 157
- River Relief Crew: 27
- Boats: 8 (4 MRR, 1 FWS, 2 MDC, 1 Commerical Fisherman)
- River Miles Cleaned: 9 (MM6.8 – MM16)
- River Stage: 21.25 feet on the St. Charles gage
- Landfill: 3.34 tons
- Scrap Metal: .49 tons
- Tires: 68 (an estimated 1.19 tons)
Total Trash Tonnage: 5 tons!
Groups Participating: Missouri River Relief Crew, League of Watershed Guardians, 1 Mississippi/Piasa Palisades Sierra Club, Boy Scout Troop 990, Arnold Stream Team 211, Tapestry Solutions – a Boeing Company, St. Clair County WFD, REI St. Louis, Project Heart – Willow’s Way, US Courts, Cub Scouts Webelos Den, Kabul Waterdogs ST#3419, Cub Scout Pack 948, bioMerieux, Alpine Shop, Boeing BEEP, Stream Team #5080, Stream Team #168
Team Names: Arctic Pelicans, CoOp Trash Bashers, Blue Moon Wolf’s, Earnest Mustache, Flaming Cobra’s, Trash Monkey’s, The Screaming White Tigers, The Floaters, Sweet Gum, Clean Stream, Pack 948, Mud Bugs, Trash Slayers
A Big Muddy Thank You To Our Event Sponsors:
"Great Blue Heron" Event Sponsors


"Paddlefish" Event Sponsor


In-Kind Sponsors


Event Partners





