Nonprofit group plans cleanup along Missouri, Kansas rivers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A coalition of agencies will conduct a cleanup of almost 30 miles of the Missouri and Kansas rivers to boost a future trail system and raise awareness for its natural beauty.

River cleanup expert Chad Pregracke visited the Missouri River in Kansas City on Friday to get a close look at the work ahead.

"There's plenty of stuff down there for us to go get," Pregracke said.

Potential work includes a pickup overturned at the water's edge and a steel fence lodged on top of other junk on shore.

On Sept. 13, Missouri River Relief, a nonprofit environmental group in Columbia, is coordinating the cleanup of the rivers with cooperation from various state, federal and local agencies. Volunteers are expected to haul boatloads and bargeloads of trash from the rivers, which converge in Kansas City.

The cost to private backers will be at least $30,000, said Jim Karpowicz, a coordinator for Missouri River Relief.

Agencies such as the Missouri Department of Conservation will provide boats for volunteers to work from.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will assist, Karpowicz said. Private industries such as Lafarge North America, a cement maker in Sugar Creek, also will help.

A barge-mounted crane will be needed to hoist the heaviest items, such as old cars.

Missouri River Relief has used Pregracke's expertise before. They have worked together on the St. Charles, Jefferson City and Columbia segments of the Missouri River.

Pregracke, 28, lives and works on big rivers. A barge serves as both his living quarters and office. Normally it is docked on the Mississippi River at his hometown of Moline, Ill., but sometimes it moves to cleanup locations.

Pregracke has worked on the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio rivers. He started in 1997 with a cleanup in the Mississippi near Moline, where he had fished for freshwater mussels. That cleanup evolved into a full-time business and national fame in the environmental field.

"I got absolutely sick of seeing all those tires and barrels in the river," he said. "I said, 'I'm going to do something about this."'