The Lackawanna River Corridor Association is staging a 2-day Earth Day cleanup Saturday and Sunday, April 21 & 22, 2007 along the river.

According to Bernard McGurl, the association’s Executive Director: “We’re hoping to get some of the worst eyesores out of the river. It means we’ll have a cleaner environment for river recreation.”

River dumping dates back to when coal miners dug holes to bury waste; and, as time went on,people kept using the holes to dump everything from refrigerators and couches to water heaters and mattresses.

Today, most of items are dumped because people do not know how or where to dispose of large items, or do not want to pay the associated disposal costs. Suggests McGurl: “Metal can be recycled at a scrap yard, refrigerator repair services will remove Freon from old refrigerators and other materials should be taken to a landfill.”

1-800-GOT-JUNK?, a national company that collects unwanted items from homes and businesses, is donating labor and trucks, and Waste Management Inc. is donating the use of a large Dumpster.

Last year, about 50 volunteers collected enough trash to fill between 300 and 400 Dumpsters.

For more information or to volunteer, please call the Lackawanna River Corridor Association at 347-6311 or e-mail lrca@epix.net.