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Fort Osage Missouri River Cleanup 2019

Saturday, May 18, 2019
Fort Osage Boat Ramp, Sibley, MO

We would be lying if we said that we weren’t a little disappointed that the weather stopped us from accomplishing the goal that we had set out to achieve. Many of our friends and partners have had their sights set on the “trash trap” at river mile 333 for quite some time, and this was our chance to give it all we got. However, the storm system that tracked through the Kansas City area kept most of us on shore for a majority of the morning. Those volunteers who showed up and braved the rain and storms got their chance to make their mark on the notorious trash trap, but the job is far from over. In a very short amount of time, we were able to remove around 1.5 tons of trash from the river. Make sure to check out the albums from the event to see how we managed to make the best of a rainy situation.

Volunteers about to head out to their cleanup location out of the Ft. Osage boat ramp. Photo by Steve Schnarr

Thank you to the 18 hardcore volunteers who woke up to the weather forecasts and chose to brave the weather with us at thee boat ramp. You rock!

Executive Director Steve Schnarr addressing the weather during the cleanup. Photo by Melanie Cheney

Even though we weren’t able to give this area the cleaning it deserved, we are overwhelmed by the support of the city and the wonderful people of Sibley who helped us throughout the week. Our Crew Camp was stationed at the beautiful Hayes Park, surrounded by wonderful neighbors who were so supportive of our mission and were happy to help with any problem that came our way. From one neighbor offering us their basement in case of severe weather, to another cooking our crew dinner on Saturday night, the support was unmatched.

Even though the rain kept us on shore most of the morning, we were still able to fill half a 40-yard dumpster. Photo by Kevin Tosie

Some great media coverage came out across the Kansas City area of our efforts to clean the Missouri River. We were lucky to have Fox 4 KC and Action 41 News come out for our trash scout on Friday to help share our story with the area. Make sure to check out Fox 4's "Group of volunteers preparing to clean Missouri River; more than 920 tons of trash recovered since 2001" by Sharifa Jackson and KSHB 41's "As trash piles up, Missouri River Relief embraces cleanup mission" by Nick Starling. 

Trash Tally

57 Bags Trash!! Plus…

5 tires on wheel rims
1 large truck tire w/out wheel rims
8 tires w/out wheel rims
1 car bumper
1 18-wheeler mud flap
1 recreational inner tube
2 coolers, 1 very large
Refrigerator (200 lbs.)
1 hot tub (floating, with lone paddler)
1 car top carrier (perfect condition)
1 snowboard (faded lime green)
1 large chunk of Styrofoam
1 3’x6” corrugated tube
4 55-gallon plastic barrels (30 lbs.)
6 5-gallon plastic buckets
1 5-gallon oil jug
1 200-gallon poly-tote chemical storage container
1 plastic shopping basket
1 industrial dish washing rack
1/2 plastic tub
basket balls
1 yellow rubber 4-Square game ball
1 plastic toy car
1 toy wheel barrow
vintage medicine bottles
1 mud burrito
innumerable cans and bottles

Fort Osage Cleanup Results

Check out the amazing photos on Facebook and Flickr!

Check out our news coverage of the event:

Total Volunteers: 49

  • Volunteers signed in: 18
  • River Relief Crew: 31
  • Boats: 5 MRR Boats
  • River Miles Cleaned: 5 (MM337 - MM333)
  • River Stage: Napoleon Gauge - 19.55-ft. | Sibley Gauge - 22.3-ft.
  • Landfill: 1.3 tons
  • Tires: 14 - 0.19 ton

Total Trash Tonnage: 1.5 tons!

Groups Participating: KCP&L, Stream Team # 1875

A Big Muddy Thank You To Our Event Sponsors:

"Great Blue Heron" Event Sponsors

"Paddlefish" Event Sponsor

Diggit Graphicscompass mineralscolliers internationalEvergy Green TeamMARC

"Pallid Sturgeon" Event Sponsor

Event Partners

Missouri Stream Team

Ready for Action?

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MRR is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Federal Tax ID (EIN) 03-0425187
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