The organizers of the eighth annual Connoquenessing Creek Cleanup on Aug. 24 are asking county residents to come out and help improve a valuable natural recreation venue in the county.

Christina Handley, vice president of the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance, said she needs a minimum of 75 to 100 volunteers to perform the work needed between the Renfrew canoe launch and Connoquenessing Creek Park in Zelienople off Halstead Boulevard.

“I always say 'The more volunteers we have, the more garbage we can remove,'” Handley said.

She said some teams will enter the 17-mile stretch of the creek on foot using boats as floating garbage receptacles. Those teams will pull tires and other refuse from the water and load it into the boats.

Other teams will man access points where they will help unload the boats on land. The tires and garbage will be loaded into trucks and trailers and driven to nearby disposal points, where tires will be laid in rows on the ground, metal will be thrown into a special dumpster for recycling and garbage will be deposited into yet another dumpster.

“We really need people with pickup trucks this year to haul garbage to the disposal sites,” Handley said. “If the trucks have a trailer, that's even better.”

The 2019 cleanup efforts are especially important, Handley said, as increased and more intense flooding along the creek has washed large items into the water.

An entire riding lawn mower, a travel trailer that broke up in the creek, two dumpsters and tires used by property owners for retaining walls along the banks are a few of the items languishing in the creek due to flooding.

“The section we've been surveying from Renfrew to Zelienople is one of the worst,” Handley said. “That section experiences really intense flooding.”

Those who volunteer will receive breakfast, snacks and water for the day, lunch from the Subway in Zelienople, a T-shirt and an invitation to the cleanup celebration on Sept. 21 at Indian Brave Campground. Live music, awards and dinner are included at the celebration.

Another cleanup will be held on Sept. 7 for those who cannot make the Aug. 24 event or who want to participate twice.

Handley said many first-time volunteers are amazed at the size and beauty of the creek when they come to volunteer.

Many then begin using the seven canoe and kayak launches installed by the alliance for paddling, picnicking, fishing or just throwing a stick into the creek for a game of fetch with their dog.

The Alliance has pulled 418,000 pounds of garbage, including 4,455 tires, from all 50 miles of the waterway, which once was named the second most polluted waterway in the nation.

More information on the Alliance and the two cleanup events is available at www.alleghenyaquaticalliance.com.

WHAT: Eighth annual Connoquenessing Creek CleanupWHEN: 8 a.m. Aug. 24WHERE: Major Washington canoe launch, 252 Ash Stop Road, Evans CityMORE: Participants are encouraged to bring rope, chains, pry bars, tin cutters, hip waders, pickup/dump trucks with or without winches or trailers