Group cleans up river after hamburger truck crash

River guides and other volunteers are clearing the Snake River of garbage from a truck wreck.

The debris was sent into the river after a semi-truck carrying a load of frozen hamburger patties crashed near the Swan Valley Bridge back in November.

The cleanup teams said Thursday that they’ve pulled 40 to 50 bright orange garbage bags of insulation, plastic, and cardboard out of the river.

“It’s an interesting scenario because we have an organic matter, the hamburger, entering the river, which can benefit the system, but we also have the inorganic cardboard, plastic, and pallets that enter the river as well,” said river guide Ed Emoy. “Basically, we want to take care of the environment, and to have that much insulation and cardboard and plastic in the river is just unacceptable.”

The group was to be on the river on Friday and hope they will have all of the garbage cleaned up by then.