Abandoned, crashed houseboat on Ohio River removed by river clean up crew
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A group devoted to cleaning up waterways across America is no stranger to tires and trash floating by, but a recent effort to clear the Ohio River near Louisville resulted in a much bigger project.
Living Lands & Waters removed a 15,000 pound houseboat near Cox Park Wednesday. The vessel was taken from the water piece-by-piece by an excavator. It had been sitting there for a year, according to those who removed it.
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The debris was then brought to a barge for storage and will ultimately be taken to a nearby scrap yard.
Workers from the non-profit often live on a barge while picking up trash from rivers on an industrial level. Those with the clean-up organization said the this was the biggest project they’ve undertaken.
“Actually, the police, after we picked it up, they noticed we picked it up,” Callie Schaser, a crew member, said. “So, they came over to our barge and were, like, thank you so much for picking up the houseboat that was there. We’ve had over 15 individual complaints alone.”
The nonprofit workers said those complaints ranged from the boat being an eyesore to it being an environmental hazard.
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