Rock River cleanup planned for next summer

By Lindsay Hocker, lhocker@qconline.com

A massive cleanup of the Rock River from the Quad-Cities to Wisconsin is in the works for next summer. Frank Masterman of Oregon, Ill., founder of The Great Rock River Sweep, decided to go big after a successful cleanup on the river’s banks in Oregon this summer. “I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge,”Mr. Masterman said. There are about 285 miles of Rock River from Horicon, Wis., to the Quad-Cities. So far, Mr. Masterman has identified 27 communities along the way that could participate. When Mr. Masterman decided he wanted the summer of 2010 cleanup to extend beyond Oregon, he said the project began to snowball. He’s said it’s still expandable, and he’d love for every community that touches the Rock to participate. He contacted EastMoline-based Living Lands & Waters after reading founder Chad Pregracke’s book, “From the Bottom Up,”which he said inspired him to make the idea a reality. Mr. Pregracke volunteered to be on Mr. Masterman’s board of directors after speaking to him. “I thought it was a fantastic idea,”Mr. Pregracke said, adding that the event will serve as a catalyst that will inspire people to take better care of the Rock River. Mr. Pregracke said Mr. Masterman has a good plan, and is the right person to make it move forward. Tammy Becker, programs managerfor Living Lands & Waters, said it’s been great to watch Mr. Masterman’s dreams for a large Rock River cleanup become reality. “I’m just excited to see somebody take it on and go big with it right from the bat,”Ms. Becker said. This project is important to Mr. Masterman because he knows the Rock River needs it. He said a cleanup is a way for people to take a step toward addressing pollution and restoring the river to its natural state. The Oregon cleanup happened in late June. The conditions were far from ideal — heavy rain occurred twice that week, and river contamination resulted in a massive fish kill — but the river was opened just in time for the group to succeed in removing 350 pounds of garbage that filled 75 trash bags from the Rock River and its banks.

The organization’s Web site is in the works. Quad-Cities residents will be needed for volunteer positions as site coordinators for the July 2010 cleanup. More information will be available soon.