The effects of Superstorm Sandy can still be seen in the D.C. area, especially at the Anacostia River. The storm left a lot of excess debris in the water.

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Anacostia Riverkeeper Mike Bolinder gave ABC7 an up-close look at what heavy rains from streams in Maryland and D.C. bring to the river.

"That fast water pulls all the lose organic debris off the banks and deposits it into the main stem of the river which moves really slow," Bolinder said.

The debris then accumulates as river trash, miles and miles of it. It's the job of the Army Corps of Engineers to remove it.

In the days since the storm, the group has removed trash, as well as huge tree trunks washed downstream. The debris will be taken to landfills, but there's one form of trash the clean-up crew sees less of nowadays.

"We don't see plastic bags anymore, because the bag tax is working so well," Bolinder added.

Teams of students from Hardy Middle School were also on the river Monday, canoeing for their field trip.

Student Courtney Logan said, "I think it's really bad for the pollution to be in the water, and I'm really excited that we get to come and view this."

But the river's even dirtier than it looks.

"We probably had about 270 million gallons of raw untreated sewage...270 million gallons of untreated human waste," Bolinder explained.