Milwaukee river trash skimmer rescued three canoeists and set debris collection record in 2017

The crew of the Lynyrd Skymmr rescued three canoeists and set a record in collecting 1,545 cubic yards of floating debris from Milwaukee rivers this year, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District officials said Monday.

The 50-foot-long vessel scooped up three dozen tree trunks and uncounted branches along with the usual urban flotsam of plastic containers, trash, road construction safety barrels, tires and dead fish.

The three young women they found struggling in the Milwaukee River in late May was a surprise, but the crew trains for such "man overboard" rescues, said Scott Cassavant, captain of the skimmer.

The canoe had overturned in the river near Cherry St. and the inexperienced canoeists were unable to get back in it, he said.

His crew pulled them up on the deck of the skimmer where they were able to warm up while he contacted the U.S. Coast Guard.

The river skimmer's crew also collected a dead goose with a crossbow arrow stuck in it, but they did not find the poacher, Cassavant said.

The debris skimmer was on the water for 128 days in 2017, a season that began April 11 and ended Nov. 3, said Sharon Mertens, the district's director of water quality protection.

"Debris is a nuisance and it can cause safety issues on the water," Mertens said in describing the need for the service. A skimmer has operated on Milwaukee waterways for 30 years.

A floating tree trunk or log can punch a hole in the hull of a fiberglass motorboat while a partially submerged barrel can damage propellers, officials said.

"We'll go out of our way to get that construction barrel," Cassavant said.

The 1,545 cubic yards of debris collected this year is enough to fill more than 77 of the commercial-size 20-yard garbage Dumpsters. Those open top containers are 22 feet long and 8 feet wide.

Lynyrd Skymmr cruises the inner harbor, the Milwaukee River through downtown up to the Humboldt Ave. bridge, the Menomonee River up to 25th St., the South Menomonee Canal and the Kinnickinnic River up to Becher St.

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The skimmer is operated by Veolia Water Milwaukee LLC under a contract with MMSD. The district paid the company $139,082 in 2017, records show. Maintaining the vessel cost an additional $46,350 this year.

Milwaukee's Public Works Department contributed $55,000 to the cost of operating the skimmer this year.

A two-person crew is provided by the Milwaukee Christian Center.