Mari-Osa Cleanup 2010

Mari-Osa Boat Ramp
Saturday, March 6th, 2010

For the third year in a row, volunteers came out in full force to tackle this major historic dumpsite cascading down the beautiful bluffs of the Osage River.  This time, we took a more targeted approach and invited several hardcore groups and friends to come out.  These mainly consisted of previous year's participants, and groups from Lincoln University & area Wal-Mart's.

There must have been some cabin fever built up, because despite only inviting a select few, word spread, and on Saturday, March 6th, 134 volunteers again emerged to clean what was left in this massive dump, mainly compiled of broken glass & small scrap metal debris.

In the previous two years, volunteers have worked to remove over 30 tons of junk from this beautiful stretch along the Osage River.

In addition to the main dumpsite this year, we tackled a huge tire dump in Osage City, where a group of folks collected & piled 240 tires for our reliable tire hauler, Jim Salmons of Jim's Tire Salvage to come and pick up.  60 additional tires were collected from the banks of the Osage, making an epic tire tally for such a small event.  We also continued to work up & downstream on several small trashy areas & riverside dumps, collecting a total of 12 tons of trash from the Osage River!

What is now left of the Mari-Osa Dump is best described by hard core crew member & food angel Jeanie Kuntz as a "river of light" - it has dwindled down to just shards of glass & small debris cascading down the hillside & glittering in the warm March sunshine.

Sunday morning we returned to the site to plant native shrubs, trees & grasses, in hopes of stabilizing & restoring this old eyesore.  A small crew of River Relief diehards helped plant Flowering & Rough Leaved Dogwoods, Ninebark, False Indigo in addition to Manna Grass, Canadian Wild Rye & River Oats seed.  We watered the little bareroot shrubs in, and left it up to nature to take its course.

Trash Tally:

113 heavy blue bags of trash
72 bags of scrap metal
1 refrigerator door
5 chunks o’ Styrofoam
1 ten gallon igloo cooler
2 propane tanks
1 iron (no ironing board)
1 Hoover vacuum cleaner
1 furnace burner
1 chest freezer shot full of holes
1 washer ringer lid
7 five gallon plastic buckets
1 metal 55-gallon drum
1 plastic 55 gallon barrel
5 old metal paint buckets
1 chair
1 toilet base w/ florette
3 bed frames
One boatload full of scrap metal to include tension cable, bed springs & rusty chairs
1 decorative gate post w/ curled spirals
2 rolls of barbed wire
chicken wire
2 rolls of hogwire
1 Discer farm implement
1 aerator
10 feet of steel pipe
1 vertical valve for lawn mower fly wheel
1 egg heater
2 theatre chair sides
1 glass tv screen
½ of a deer target – the butt end
1 converted anchor to a dog tie up
1 paddle boat in pieces
1 1976 MO license plate
1 brake rotor
1 muffler
1 exhaust pipe
1 rear axle – Ford? very old
1 metal car bumper
1 tv antenna
1 whetstone
1 child wheelbarrow
1 tennis ball
1 bicycle fender
1 fishing rod
3 swimming noodles
1 ac compressor
1 gear box
1 sheet of roofing fiberglass
8 frying pans
10 piece assorted swall scrap metal
1 rubber easy chair
1 bag carpet scraps
1 steel trap w/ finger bones
1 Studebaker hubcap signed on the inside
3 antique perfume bottles
1 baby doll head
1 baby doll leg
1 old rusty toy truck in pieces
1 depression era glass ashtray
1 antique PBR beer can
1 old glass Coca-Cola bottle
1 antique scale
1 silver spoon
1 duck decoy
2 boat lower units
1 tiny triceratops