Volunteers clean up Mill Creek watershed in Boardman Township

Dozens of volunteers rolled up their sleeves and grabbed trash bags Sunday morning to take part in a Mill Creek watershed cleanup at the East Newport Boat Launch.

The event, organized by the Mahoning County Soil and Water Conservation District along with several partners, brought about three dozen participants who collected litter both on the shoreline and out on the water in canoes.

“This is one of our most precious natural resources,” said Zack Felger, district outreach and education specialist. “Today we are doing a Mill Creek watershed cleanup in order to improve this beautiful natural resource that we have here in Mahoning County.”

Organizers said protecting Mill Creek is about more than just aesthetics. Water quality, recreation and even drinking water are at stake.

“Most importantly, water is our most important natural resource, obviously, for drinking water purposes,” Felger said. “But where trash goes…it ends up in our wastewater treatment plants, and it's very costly to treat polluted water.”

Kathleen Vrable-Bryan, executive director of Mahoning Soil and Water, said the event also serves as a way to raise awareness about the connection between land use and water health.

“We’re doing this because it is all for the sake of water quality improvement,” Vrable-Bryan said. “Hopefully people can take this information back home, and be a little bit more aware that what they’re doing on their properties can affect our water quality.”

Vrable-Bryan added that the work is personal for her. Growing up near Mill Creek MetroParks, she said she and her friends would often pick up litter in the area. “We want future generations to be able to have those good memories, like we all do as older people,” she said.

Partners for the cleanup included the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Mill Creek MetroParks, the Mahoning County Green Team, Boardman Township, Buckeye Water to Trails Adventures, and Friends of the Mahoning River.

Organizers say the goal is to make the Mill Creek cleanup an annual tradition, with similar efforts also planned in other local parks and watersheds across Mahoning County.