Our Story

  • Oil Covered Turtle

Riverkeepers Ohio was formed after its Founder, James Carnahan aka OpaRuns, discovered and reported a major oil spill in the Tuscarawas River at the Wolf Creek Trailhead in Barberton, Ohio on July 6, 2023 while on his way to his favorite fishing hole.

He went back two days later only to discover that the spill was actually a more extensive oil spill than anyone thought.

After stepping into the water to begin flyfishing, he was alarmed to find himself and his fishing rod covered in oil. As he looked around, he saw geese, duck, muskrats and other wildlife struggling to stay alive as their bodies were covered in the thick black oil. After another call failed to generate a response, he took his pleas for help to social media and news stations, posting photos and videos of dying animals, oil covered rocks, vegetation and insects. Three days later he finally got the attention of local ODNR, EPA, reporters and other entities.

  • Oil Covered Duck
  • Oil covered goose in the river
  • Dead Duck

The clean-up was a slow process, eleven weeks to be exact (the remaining remnants of the oil and long term effects on the local ecosystems will take much longer to go away). During that time, James, with the help of his friend, Dave Stoler,  was able to head out every day to report on the clean-up progress,  and soon they became “The Voice of the River”.

From that event, James learned more about how our waterways were NOT being taken care of properly and that nothing was going to get done just talking about it or waiting for someone else to do it.  That’s when he was inspired to form Riverkeepers Ohio.

“Nothing will get done if you’re waiting on someone else to do it.  You need to get out there and start making a difference yourself”.

– James Carnahan aka Opa
  • Opa and Dave
    James “Opa” Carnahan (black hat) and Dave Stoler

The Formation of Riverkeepers Ohio

  • Original Riverkeepers, Wendy Hagen, James “Opa” and Dave Stoler

Shortly after the clean-up, the founding members of Riverkeepers Ohio initially Dave Stoler, Wendy Hagen, and James Carnahan ( aka OpaRuns), started meeting to clean up the piles of trash coming into the Tuscarawas, especially after a rain event. Cleaning up the trash meant getting into the river or pulling trash out from a kayak or canoe, “None of which was safe or easy. We knew there had to be a better way,” said James.

James would concede that there are already commercial “tools of the trade” out there like the booms that held the oil, that could be used to clean out of the river.  Problem is, they are very expensive and placement is often not optimal for the aesthetics and cause water flow issues in some instances. 

Instead of trying to push a square peg into a round hole, he came up with his own design for “Tools of the Trade”.  A major one being a homemade breakaway boom.  These booms can be easily customized to be placed anywhere.  In the event of highwater, they will break away so as not to cause flooding.  The booms stop trash at outfalls and/or convenient locations so trash can be easily removed by volunteers. The best part, they are a fraction of the cost and can be procured at a local hardware store.

Dave and James first tested the homemade booms in his pool and once he found that they worked, they tested them in an undisclosed area of the river to see if it worked.  They were indeed successful so he contacted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to demonstrate how they worked and got their approval to place the booms at coordinated points along the water ways.

  • Trash collected by Riverkeepers Ohio homemade boom
Cleaned Out Boom

After an initial three booms were placed, Riverkeepers Ohio collected over a 1,000 pounds of trash from the waterways in just one short month, demonstrating its value and need.

With this proof, Riverkeepers Ohio has since developed a partnership with Summit Metro Parks and the City of Akron to place more of his booms in other waterways and is actively pursuing partnerships with other local municipalities.

Of course, the Riverkeepers don’t stop at just picking up trash. They continually watch for any kind of pollution or abuse of the waterways and report what they find when necessary.   This also includes helping get injured wildlife and other animals to the proper sources that can help them.

The Future

James’ vision for Riverkeepers Ohio is limitless.

“First off, I can’t do this alone.  The more volunteers we have, the more impact we can make. The more booms we can place.  I am documenting all of what we do and would one day love for us to become a model for other cities and states to do the same. “

– James Carnahan aka OpaRuns

In the first three months of the Riverkeepers Ohio installing their first boom, they have collected over a TON OF TRASH.  Not to mention, chairs, tires, a shopping cart and a bowling ball, as an example.

  • Riverkeepers, Dave Stoler, James, Eric Fitch and Wendy Hagen head out on the river.

  • James aka “Oparuns” picking up trash near his favorite fishing hole.
  • James scooping up trash with a device he made out of pool noodle at the end of an extension handle.
  • Volunteer, Dave, showing off just a portion of the trash they gathered out of the river.

To Read more about the “Disaster on the Tusk” oil spill that James aka Opa found,  visit his blog at www.oparuns.com.

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