Friday, April 22 2011
EVANSVILLE -- Winter and early Spring flooding is causing quite the mess along Evansville's riverfront, but clean up crews have to wait for the weather to cooperate. The Greenway along Evansville's riverfront is a path that many take every day. Joshua Seibert lives in Evansville and says this time of year he's usually greeted with the remnants of Winter flooding. He says the riverfront is usually "sort of smelly from the stagnant water, the debris. Lot of grass down here too. Usually it's cleaned up down here, but it's been pretty nasty". Seibert says this year, the junk that's washed up seems to be worse, including tires and other junk washed up on the concrete near Casino Aztar. The City of Evansville says that all of this mess can't be cleaned up until waters fully recede for the entire season. Executive Director of Transportation and Services for the city Ed Ziemer says his crews normally wait until April first or Mid-April to clean up because in the past they've cleaned up only to have more flooding happen. Ziemer says once word is given that flood season is over, city crews get to work to get the riverfront back into shape. "A couple pick up trucks or dump trucks (are used) to load the logs in. We try to pick up any cans or paper or plastic bags or tires or anything like that. We pick all that stuff up. The only thing we wash back in the river is the mud itself," he explained. Ziemer says it usually takes a crew of about ten workers to get the riverfront area cleaned up. The entire crew works for the city, so no extra funds are needed for the job. Source: http://www.news25.us/Global/story.asp?S=14433434 |