SACO — The Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance has been conducting an annual trash drive in the Saco River for four years, and even after scouring the river in previous years, volunteers had no trouble finding debris to remove from the river during the volunteer effort on Sept. 9.

Eighty-nine participants, some by kayak or canoe, some on foot along the shore, removed 43 pick-up truck loads, weighing a total of six tons, of trash from the river in an area that spanned 30 miles from the West Buxton Dam to the Atlantic Ocean, said Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance President Rick LaRiviere, who coordinates the annual effort.

Over the past four years, a total of 18.5 tons of garbage has been collected from the river, said LaRiviere.

“Our entire team is looking forward to the day when it’s hard to find trash,” he said.

There were tires, lots of them, and too many bottles and cans to count. Also found were building supplies and water toys including a huge inflatable pink flamingo. Among the debris were old rusty buckets and rusted out 50-gallon drums.

“That’s always a concern for us,” said LaRiviere. “We don’t know what’s in them and once rusted out what will leach out into the water.”

The Saco River originates in New Hampshire, spanning 134 miles until it discharges in the Atlantic Ocean in Maine, according to information from a University of New England report. It supplies drinking water to about 250,000 people in 35 municipalities, according to the report from UNE.

The Sept. 9 event was held in conjunction with Landowner Appreciation Clean Up Day, a statewide event hosted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Forest Service.

LaRiviere said the Saco River clean-up effort won second place, earning the Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance a $750 gift card to Kittery Trading Post, which will be used for equipment for interns and habitat and egg planting work conducted by the alliance.

With four years under his belt as coordinator for the annual trash drive, LaRiviere is getting skilled in where to find trash. He said volunteers discovered trash left behind offshore after areas were temporarily flooded out when river levels got high. Trash has also been found caught up in roots on overturned trees and underneath logs.

LaRiviere said next year, he hopes to deploy more canoe and kayak teams to go into areas along the river that are not easily accessible from land.

“It’ll take longer to clean the river, but we’ll be able to do a much more thorough job,” said LaRiviere.

He said he’s grateful for the Boy Scouts and community groups, local businesses, Maine Warden Service, Maine Forest Service, the Saco Conservation Commission and the Saco Fire and Public Works departments and many community members for their assistance.

Anyone interested in helping out next year can go to www.sacosalmon.com for more information.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 780-9015 or [email protected].