Yuma County receives river cleanup award

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality presented the award to the county

YUMA, Ariz. (KECY, KYMA) – Yuma received a big award Wednesday morning for efforts to clean up the Colorado River.

The voluntary cleanup in August removed over 11 tons of waste.

The award was given to Yuma County from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

The man in charge of organizing the cleanup was Yuma County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Sonny Hixon.

Who says local students from Yuma Catholic were a huge help.

“We had 48 kids show up, they were the ones who did all the heavy lifting and made it all go through,” Hixon said.

Hixon also received high praise from his boss, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot.

“He’s done over 12 of these cleanups just in Yuma County, in the Foothills and elsewhere,” Wilmot said.

Hixon says while it’s nice to be recognized, he wishes people would not illegally dump their trash around Yuma.

Especially in popular recreation areas like the Colorado River.

“That area specifically literally two miles down the road there’s a solid transfer waste site where people could have gone and dumped it for free,” Hixon said.

Visit the county website to find the closest waste transfer site to you.

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