SHORELINES

Alabama's largest river cleanup celebrates 20 years By Dennis Washington and Justin Averette Twenty years ago, Gene Phifer approached his supervisor at Alabama Power with a simple idea: Clean trash out of the Coosa River near Plant Gadsden. "He really backed the program in a tremendous way," Phifer said. "Not only him, but the executives got involved, too. ey were staunchly behind it." e program was named Renew e Coosa and quickly evolved into Alabama's largest river cleanup and one of the largest in the country before being renamed Renew Our Rivers. e company honored Phifer and dozens of other volunteers this fall for their efforts at a luncheon in Montgomery. "ank you for what you do to build a better Alabama," said Zeke Smith, vice president of External Affairs for Alabama Power. "It's just fabulous. It makes a difference." During the past two decades, more than 120,000 volunteers have collected more than 15.5 million pounds of trash and debris from waterways across the Southeast. e program has earned numerous awards including the 2019 Water Conservationist of the Year award from the Alabama Wildlife Federation. "e waterways are so important to us and to the state of Alabama," Susan Comensky, Alabama Power vice president of Environmental Affairs told the gathering. "Your dedication and your effort to see that they stay that way is an investment in all of our futures." Lynn Martin has volunteered 19 of the 20 years at cleanups around Alabama. She said her goal is to get more young people involved. "I've got my 21-year-old daughter now involved," Martin said. "We love it. It's just an awesome feeling." Photos: Staff 24 | 2019 Vol: 4

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