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Mississippi River In St. Paul Getting Cleaned Up

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- There will be a good, deep cleaning along the Mississippi River Wednesday as volunteers head out by riverboat to pick up trash and debris in St. Paul.

But there's a fun twist to all that dirty work. At least some if not most of the trash collected will end up at the Minnesota State Fair in August. Several organizations will come out Wednesday, get on a riverboat near Harriet Island and help with the clean-up of the Mississippi River.

The trash will include everything from barrels to car tires, even furniture, and they'll take the best trash they find Wednesday to give to an artist who will make sculptures out of it at the State Fair. It's been going on for several years.

Officials said since about 1989, around 90,000 volunteers who have cleaned waterways all over the state. They've collected about six million pounds of trash.

 

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