Mississippi Power’s Renew Our Rivers program removes 300th ton of debris
Renew Our Rivers, Mississippi Power’s award-winning environmental stewardship program, celebrated a milestone today with the removal of the 300th ton of debris from a south Mississippi waterway.
More than 65 volunteers, in 10 boats, took part in today’s cleanup effort on Gulfport Lake, Bayou Bernard and Turkey Creek, where approximately 6.5 tons of debris collectively were removed.
Students from the Gulfport Jobs Corps volunteered for the Turkey Creek land-based cleanup and helped remove more than 500 tires that were discarded in a field.
Renew Our Rivers volunteers have now removed approximately 305 tons of debris from more than 20 waterways across southeast Mississippi.
“Ten years ago, Renew Our Rivers began as a way for our employees and community partners to show how much they cared about the environment and communities we are privileged to serve,” Environmental Affairs Director Mark Loughman said. “Now it is widely recognized as one of the premier environmental stewardship programs in the state of Mississippi.”
Click to listen to and download audio of Mark Loughman discussing the success of Renew Our Rivers.
After five cleanup events in 2015, more than 350 volunteers have removed more than 10.3 tons of trash from Deer Island, Back Bay Biloxi, Chunky River and the Okatoma River.
This year’s final cleanups are scheduled for the Pascagoula River on Oct. 1 and Clermont Harbor on Oct. 14.
“Removing 300 tons of trash takes effort, commitment and engagement from Mississippi Power and our partners,” Loughman said. “These cleanups started before Hurricane Katrina and now, a decade later, we are still working to make the 23 counties of southeast Mississippi as beautiful as they can be.”
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