Volunteers cleaned despite cold weather as they worked for a cleaner Chicago River on Saturday.
The 19th annual Chicago River Day was held at 67 watershed locations throughout the Chicagoland area. Although the event occurs every year, it coincided with a May 12 announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandating the State of Illinois to upgrade the water quality standards for portions of the Chicago and Calumet Rivers.
According to U.S. EPA Spokeswoman Phillippa Cannon, the EPA has repeatedly told Illinois to upgrade its water system. Now that more people are using the Chicago River, the EPA wants to make the water safe for direct contact, she said.
In the news release on the EPA website, the Illinois Pollution Control Board 9has been directed to revise water quality standards for the North and South Branches of the Chicago River, the North Shore Channel, the Cal-Sag Channel and the Little Calumet River. If the board does not follow up on these directions, the U.S. EPA will act instead, the release said.
At the cleanup in Chicago’s Richard Clark Park, volunteers were cleaning trash from the riverbank, cleaning up the surrounding woods and park, getting rid of invasive plant species and mulching trees. Clark Park Advisory Council President Bill Donahue said the park now has its cleanup day on the same day as the river cleanup.
“We feel like (the Chicago River is) our second lakefront,” Donahue said. “For a long time, it was neglected and looked at as an open sewer.”
Donahue added he hopes the Chicago River improves so that more people can use it.
“I’d like to see it get increasingly cleaner every year, see it developed as a recreational asset,” he said. “It should be used more as an amenity for Chicagoans.”
Like Donahue, many Clark Park volunteers echoed a similar desire to see the river become safer for recreational use.
Steve Stankiewicz, a 31-year-old volunteer, said he likes to canoe but he would choose other places over the Chicago River because of its reputation regarding cleanliness.
“I’d rather not be here if I tipped the canoe,” he said.
Attorney and volunteer Tim O’Hagan has lived in Chicago for 30 years. He said the Chicago River has improved in part because of volunteer groups and a growing awareness of the environment. However, he would like to see more bike and walking paths along the river.
According to Cynthia Fox, the manager of community, volunteers and leadership for Friends of the Chicago River, cleaning the river helps usher in the new spring season.
“In the spring, this is essentially the river’s spring cleaning,” Fox said.
Because Fox grew up around and played in many bodies of water, such as the Des Plaines River, she understands the value of healthy waterways for recreation.
“I was pretty much born in the water,” she said. “It would be cool if the Chicago River could be brought back to that.”
