Hennepin County honored for leading the Mississippi Cleanup Challenge

At the September 9 Hennepin County Board meeting, representatives from Goodhue County presented commissioners with certificates from Governor Tim Walz and Goodhue County for participating in the Mighty Mississippi Cleanup Challenge earlier this spring. Hennepin County led all participating communities by mobilizing 2,800 volunteers who removed a total of 20,500 pounds of refuse from along the waterways of the Mississippi river watershed.

In attendance to present the certificates were Goodhue County Administrator Scott Arneson (pictured second from left) and Goodhue County Commissioner Linda Flanders (fifth from left). Pictured after the presentation are (from left to right) Hennepin County Commissioners Marion Greene, Debbie Goettel, Irene Fernando, Angela Conley, Heather Edelson, and Kevin Anderson.

The Challenge encourages governments along the Mississippi to organize spring cleanup events and—in in the spirit of friendly competition—recognizes those efforts by tracking and sharing results. Minnesota communities all along the river’s 650 miles, from near the headwaters to the state’s southern border, have risen to the Challenge since 2023 to improve and protect one of the state’s most threatened waterways.