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Mari-Osa Dump Cleanup 2008

Saturday, March 1 - March 2, 2008
Mari-Osa Public Access on the Osage River

On March 1-2, we took on a special project. With the help of 94 volunteers, we took a massive chunk out of a decades-old dumpsite spilling into the Osage River just upstream of the Mari-Osa Delta. Crews spent a day and a half pulling 18.7 tons of junk from the base of that dump. We didn’t get it all, but I think the momentum to make it all disappear has begun.

Our friend, Jeff Finley of the US Fish and Wildlife service, pointed the dump out to us. He’d driven his shoalrunner by that dump a hundred times but one day the thought came to him, “Somebody ought to do something about that.” Then he realized ... he knew just the right folks.

Once we started calling around, Skip Jenkins, who lives right down there, let us know that not only would he help out, he had a bunch of folks called the “Osage River Navy” that were going to pitch in. They proved to be the perfect hosts and hostesses, feeding us, fixing one of our boats and working hard all day long.

A lot of friends from other Stream Teams, the Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Guard, folks that’d helped on other clean-ups and family came out to help. At the last minute, Jarad Milligan from MDC brought a boat and hauled trash in its bow all morning. People who’d seen the dump for years and saw the clean-up in the paper came out. Folks whose grandparents used that dump wanted to help. As soon as we had a boat full of volunteers, they started tearing into the pile. The first boat full of appliances came rolling in to the ramp before the last boat of volunteers went out.

After a morning of hauling junk, we had to call in two more scrap metal dumpsters (thank you Harold from Galamba for working overtime bringing those out!) to hold the trash stash. We took a group photo in front of one brimming dumpster and headed out for more.

The nicest thing about a clean-up like this is at the end of the day, the people that did it can see a huge difference. The bottom of that dump pile melted away. They just made their river a better place and every time they go by it in a boat, they’ll remember it.

Trash Tally

Filling FOUR 30-yard dumpsters of scrap metal and one 30-yard dumpster of landfill, we found (at least):

  • 212 bags of trash
  • 195 tin/steel cans
  • 196 buckets
  • 161 barrels
  • 48 tubs
  • 2 freon/gas cylinders
  • 34 refrigerators
  • 49 hot water heaters
  • 39 stoves
  • 7 furnaces
  • 10 kitchen sinks
  • 9 rusty stoves
  • 1 baby stroller
  • 1 1960s plastic microscope
  • 1 water logged brassierre
  • 1 microwave
  • 1 television
  • 1 oil pump
  • 1 iron jack
  • 1 furnace
  • 1 shortwave tube radio
  • 1 computer
  • 2 baby dolls
  • 1 typewriter
  • 1 bbq grill barrel
  • 1 elementary school desk
  • 1 camping thermos
  • 1 box fan
  • 5 dryers
  • 1 steel & wooden wagon tongue
  • 1 “Rug Doctor” carpet cleaner
  • 1 large Kelvinator sign
  • 1 juke box
  • 1 sewing machine stand
  • 2 AC units
  • 60 washing machines
  • 2 wringer washers
  • 2 toilets
  • 79 tires
  • 35 car body parts & panels
  • 1 pink 1950s Ford
  • 1 rusty hood of a 1956 DeSota
  • 1 front fender of a 1949 Studebaker
  • 1 Ford clutch pressure plate (1963)
  • 2 Cadillac hub caps
  • 1 blue 1956 Pontiac
  • 5 gas tanks
  • 12 wheels
  • 8 car seats
  • 4 mufflers
  • 9 gas cans
  • 4 car batteries
  • 5 Missouri license plates (1976, 1930, 1931, 1971)
  • 10 car seat springs
  • 2 clay pipes
  • 19 lengths of guttering
  • 786 assorted scraps
  • of rusty metal (sheet-stampedangle-tube)
  • 34 panels or rolls of fencing
  • 16 pieces of barbed wire
  • 12 pieces of 1” wire cable
  • 158 pieces of steel wire (small to large)
  • 74 pieces of structural iron and tube
  • 14 pieces of cast iron
  • 23 bed frame
  • 37 bed springs
  • 2 stereos
  • 7 gas grills
  • 2 gas push mowers
  • 1 roaster oven
  • 108 cooking utensils
  • 2 big wheels
  • 1 bicycle
  • 1 1/2 tricycles
  • 1 unicycle
  • 1 office chair
  • 1 enamel chamber pot “thunder bucket” shot full of bullet holes
  • 7 metal chairs
  • 4 lamps
  • 36 metal cabinets & shelving
  • 2 bicycle wheels
  • 1 snow sled
  • 3 commercial clothes dryer
  • 1 ironing machine
  • 1 hand iron
  • 1 ornate cast iron wood stove
  • 1 porcelain bathtub in pieces

Mari-Osa Dump Cleanup Results

Check out the amazing photos on Flickr!

Read more about this event on the River Notes Blog.

Results Download: Mari-Osa Results Flier

Total Volunteers: 94

  • Volunteers signed in: 76
  • River Relief Crew: 18
  • Boats: 3 MRR Boats | 1 MDC
  • River Miles Cleaned: .5
  • River Stage: 11.5-ft. @ Jeff City Gauge
  • Landfill: 5.5 tons
  • Scrap Metal: 13.2 tons
  • Tires: 68 - 1.2 tons

Total Trash Tonnage: 19.9 TONS!

A Big Muddy Thank You To Our Event Sponsors and Partners:

Osage River Navy

Bob Woodward at the Osage Campground & More

Fabick CAT, Jefferson City

Galamba Metals, Holts Summit

Jeff, Mark and Maggie Finley

GerbesHyveeMid-Missouri Solid Waste Management DistrictMissouri Stream Team

AmeriCorps Stream Team Assistants

Pat Jones

Director Doyle Childers, MoDNR

Jim Salmons Tire Salvage

Allied Waste, Jefferson City

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