Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

OWENSVILLE—Five Gasconade County road crew employees and two Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) employees cleared 1,220 pounds of trash and 15 tires from an illegal dump west of Owensville on Kuhne Road on Nov. 9, 2022.  The group worked approximately four hours on clearing the dump, hauling the 1,220 pounds of trash to the Cuba landfill and 15 tires to the county shed to be recycled. 

“Illegal dumps have impacts that reach further than the immediate dump site,” Kathryn Hawes, MRPC environmental specialist said. “The dump in Gasconade County was in a natural drainage area. Without the clean-up, the trash could have ended up reaching a body of water and leaching chemicals into the water or potentially someone’s well water.”

The Gasconade County dump was the first clean up coordinated by MRPC in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. An additional two clean ups organized by Ozark Rivers are scheduled in February on the Mark Twain National Forest in Phelps and Washington Counties. 

For those interested in participating or organizing a clean up event, contact Hawes at 573-265-2993 or via email at khawes@meramecregion.org. 

For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area, contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, at 573-265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org. Also, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD and on the web at www.ozarkrivers.org. MRPC provides the day-to-day administration for Ozark Rivers. 

Ozark Rivers was established by state statute with the goal of reducing the amount of solid waste sent to our landfills by 40 percent. For over 30 years, ORSWMD has served Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski, and Washington counties and their respective cities with populations of 500 or more. For more information about ORSWMD or waste reduction and recycling opportunities in the Ozark Rivers area, contact Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC environmental programs manager, at 573-265-2993. Follow Ozark Rivers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ORSWMD or on our website at ozarkrivers.org for future collection dates and waste management grants.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. Steve Vogt, representing the city of Belle, serves as chairman of the board. A professional staff of 36 offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.orgor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.

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Photo Cutline: Layne Fries (left), Dennis Godi, Roger Dahl, Paul Dahl and Tim Shanks from the Gasconade County road crew worked with two MRPC employees to clean up 1,220 pounds of trash and 15 tires from Kuhne Road Nov. 9, 2022. Trashasaurus Rex (second right), Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District’s newest clean up crusader and mascot for the district’s illegal dump clean up program, was on hand to support the crew.