Volunteers battled high and muddy waters to help clean up a section of Connoquenessing Creek on Saturday.

It was the second year Christina Handley organized efforts to clean a section of the polluted waterway through her nonprofit group Allegheny Aquatics Alliance.

“It’s become such a passion of mine,” Handley said of her environmental pursuits. “We’re hoping to continue doing a 10-mile stretch every year.”

Last year, about 130 volunteers removed nearly 55,000 pounds of trash from a 10-mile section of the creek in Forward and Jackson townships as well as Harmony and Zelienople.

On Saturday, just as many volunteers set out to clean the next 10 miles of the creek, as well as do maintenance on the previous year’s section.

In total, volunteers worked 20 miles spanning from Zelienople to the AK Steel plant just outside the city of Butler.

“Doing 20 miles is a lot more difficult to organize than doing 10,” Handley said. “Next year, we’re thinking about possibly doing two cleanups — one to clean the next section of the creek and one to do maintenance.”

The increase in area wasn’t the only struggle for Handley and her volunteers this year.

“I wish someone could lower the water,” said Doug Mahony, a volunteer from Zelienople. “Last year it was a lot easier to find things.”

Heavy rains earlier in the week raised water levels of the creek and muddied the water, making it difficult to remove a lot of the debris plaguing the section.

“If we could’ve done it on Tuesday it would’ve been perfect,” Handley said. “The water was clear earlier in the week.”

But despite some struggles, Handley said the event was still important and satisfying.

“It’s a little disheartening because I know how much still needs to be done,” Handley said. “But people still were out doing as much as they could, which is really rewarding to see.”

Mahony agreed.

“It’s very rewarding to be able to give back to nature,” he said.

While the majority of volunteers worked clearing trash and tires from the creek and its banks, one team was focused on heavy objects in the water.

Handley’s husband, Mike, helped lead the team that cleared away numerous objects, including a full riding mower lodged in the center of the creek.

“It’s such a beautiful creek in a terrible state,” he said.

Dustin Markovich of North Hills was one of the volunteers that helped pull the lawn mower from the water.

“We scored a lawn mower today,” he said. “We snapped a couple ropes trying to drag it out but we eventually got it.”

Markovich was happy to help clean up the waters.

“I’m an avid fisherman, so it’s nice to get out here to help out” he said.

Handley and her husband originally got the idea to clean up the river after attempting to kayak in it a couple years ago.

“I’ve never seen a waterway in that condition before,” she said. “It was polluted.

“That’s what got me to organize the cleanup and after seeing the turnout we got last year, it just inspired me to continue doing it.”

Handley said she spent hundreds of hours over the year organizing the event and raising money to cover the list of expenses that comes with the event, including bus rentals and taking care of the trash collected.

Last year’s cleanup cost more than $11,000, which Handley raised through fundraising campaigns.

In 2000, a scientific study found the creek to be the second most polluted waterway in the country behind the Mississippi River.

The creek is 50 miles long and stretches from Oneida Lake in Oakland Township to the Beaver River in southern Lawrence County.