Tons of trash were pulled out of the Cuyahoga River during the annual cleanup Sept. 25.

MARIANA – YOU ASKED WHERE YOU CAN IMPROVE…READ THIS LEAD. WHY NOT JUST SAY TEN TONS OF TRASH GOT PULLED OUT OF THE CR DURING A RECENT CLEANUP..

THE KENT PSDEPT SAID THE CLEAUP TWO WEEKS AGO DOUBLED LAST YEAR….

ETC. READ MORE LEADS. READ MORE PERIOD. DISSECT THE LEADS. DISSECT THE FIRST TWO GRAFS.

According to the Kent Public Service Department, approximately 10.8 tons of garbage were removed.

The cleanup two weeks ago topped last year’s total of five tons, with city employees and volunteers removing trash and debris.

“I was amazed of how much trash was in the river in the extent that we did a cleanup last year,” said John Idone, director of the Kent Parks and Recreation Department. 

Idone said city officials are looking into whether the trash had already been there or whether people have been putting more trash in the river recently to cause the increase.

“That’s our fifth annual cleanup and hopefully we get more people involved,” said Gene Roberts, the city’s service director.

Roberts said debris from the old Crain Avenue Bridge and its new construction accounted for most of the garbage’s weight.

WHY WAS THERE WASTE FROM THE BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION? WHY DIDN’T IT GE TAKEN OUT BY THE COMPANY BUILDING THE BRIDGE???

The cleanup also recovered scrap metal and tires. Sixty-seven tires were sold for $280 to Kauffman Tires and sent to a recycler where the rubber is reground and reused to make other products. The metal went to Wall Street Recycling, bringing $977.23 to the city.

The rest of the garbage taken from the Cuyahoga went to R&R Sanitation, the city’s contracted trash company, which took material to landfills.  

Roberts said that although the city’s water reclamation facility cleans impurities in the water, objects people throw in the river such as tires, bathtubs, bowling balls, safes and car parts — all examples from this year’s cleanup — have to be taken out manually. 

“Educating ourselves how to be good stewards is the primary thing we have to do,” Roberts said. “The river runs through the City of Kent. The City of Kent was built here because of the river. It’s our heritage, and if we don’t take care of it, nobody else will.”

Contact Mariana Silva at [email protected].