Singing River Electric partnered with Mississippi Power Company and Cable One for the Second Annual Renew Our Rivers cleanup of the lower Pascagoula River. Fifteen SRE employees joined the near 50 volunteers who headed out on boats to clean the waterways and reach more of the river system. The project launched from Gautier City Park and Pier and covered the lower Pascagoula River basin area.
“We enjoyed the opportunity to clean up the river and are proud that we were able to be so successful,” said SRE Right-of-way Coordinator Nick Greer. Nick coordinated Renew Our Rivers cleanup efforts for SRE. Initial reports from the event show volunteers were able to pick up around eight tons of trash and debris. This is two tons more than the 2018 inaugural year and many tons over the one-to-two ton average collected at Renew Our Rivers events held at other locations.
Renew Our Rivers is a national award-winning environmental stewardship program. Piloted in 2005 by Mississippi Power Company, the initiative was created to clean waterways, educate the public, and raise awareness on the protection and preservation of our area’s valuable community resources.
Prior to this year’s event, the community effort had collected over 362 tons of debris from approximately 20 different waterways in south Mississippi.
“Growing up in south Mississippi, you learn at a young age to leave no trace – to pick up after yourself and leave it how you found it, or better,” said Singing River Electric general manager and CEO Brian Hughey. “Trash still finds its way to the water by flying off vehicles and boats and floating down the river, so we do our part to clean it back up and protect our beautiful natural resources.”
