The Great St Lawrence River Cleanup
The Upper St. Lawrence River Protection Network’s (USLRPN) membership is made up of community volunteers, representatives of conservation groups and government agencies that are focused on protecting the Upper St. Lawrence River.
The network focuses on concerns, issues and possible opportunities and improvements that are brought forth by the river’s community individuals.
The Clean-up Committee is a sub-group of the USLRPN. It was created to address concerns from a collective group of individuals about the garbage along the shores and in the waters of our River. Seaway Valley Divers is one on the groups that helped bring this concern to light. The Clean-up Committee, under the leadership of Karen Cooper the RAP coordinator for this area, applied for grants and organized shoreline and under the water clean-ups starting in 2016.
Seaway Valley Divers, in partnership with the Lunker Club, volunteer their time to agree on locations, locate items under the water and bring them back to the shore. On shore volunteers then sort and record everything delivered. O2ToGo Dive Centre plays a small part in this great operation by donating the air fills for these divers.
2016 and 2017 Clean-ups have resulted in 20.5 tons removed from the river and its shores. We have been successful in 2018 to receive another grant and have started planning to organize 3 more clean- ups this spring and summer.
