The Elgin Fire Department Dive Team will host a collaborative effort to clean a portion of the Fox River, September 11, 2008. Partners for this project include, The Friends of the Fox River, the Department of Natural Resources, the Grand Victoria Riverboat Casino, and Project Aware. This new collaboration of partners will take clean up efforts of the Fox River to a new level. They will be removing debris from the riverbed, sorting out the recyclables, and disposing of the waste. Elgin Fire Department divers are uniquely qualified to take the cleaning of the river to this new level as previous cleaning efforts by local organizations have been limited to the shoreline. Their recently purchased sonar equipment will help easily identify foreign objects and their specialized training will allow them to negotiate the often swift river currents that make this work particularly dangerous. This year’s annual clean up will take place in the stretch of river adjacent to Festival Park. Future efforts will be directed at different stretches of the river.
Ultimately, the efforts of Fire Department Dive Team and its partners will result in the cleaning of the Fox River from Elgin’s northern to southern boundaries.
We are looking for shoreline volunteers to assist with the sorting and removal of debris. If you would like to help with this project contact Lt. Dan Wagner, of Elgin’s Fire Department at 847-931-6175.