KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? A clean Kansas River could be a center for recreation and economic development, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday.

“You look at the shoreline, and it’s a wasteland,” he said. “This is an economic resource that’s being squandered.”

Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and son of the former U.S. attorney general, helped launch the Kansas Riverkeeper boat in a ceremony in Kansas City, Kan.

Dave Murphy, director of Kansas Riverkeeper, will patrol the waters between Junction City and Kansas City, looking for pollution. The program is sponsored by Friends of the Kaw and is affiliated with the national Waterkeeper Alliance, which has 83 similar watchdogs nationally.

The alliance, which has won hundreds of lawsuits against polluters, recently named the Kansas River the fourth most-endangered river in the country.

“It’s important for us to stake out the waterway and put a boat on it and say we’re not going to rely on the government agencies to protect it for us, because they’re too easily influenced,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the event’s location, near Kansas City’s Fairfax Industrial District, was a good example of misused riverfront land. He said the area should have parks and trails.

Improving water quality also increases the value of properties along a waterway, he said.

Kennedy called large-scale meat producers the “greatest threat to water quality in this state,” a claim agriculture industry officials dispute.

Unlike small family farms, Kennedy said commercial operations spread manure in dangerous concentrations.

“They dump their waste into the landscape and it goes into the river,” Kennedy said. “This is an industry that cannot make money without breaking the law.”

The event represented the official kick-off for the Kansas riverkeeper, though Murphy has been on duty since Aug. 1. Kennedy later spoke and signed books at the Grinter House in Kansas City, Kan.

Joanne Bergman, Lawrence, who serves as treasurer of Friends of the Kaw, said members wanted to lure people to use the river to raise awareness for water quality. The group has canoe trips and is adding new canoe access points at Perry and St. George.

“It’s hard to tell people to be using the river, but we have a filthy river,” Bergman said. “I think people are concerned about it, but they don’t know what they can do about it.”

Debra Baker, a Friends of the Kaw member from Lawrence, said Kennedy’s appearance should help the group spread the word about water quality.

“His point was we’re doing this for the sake of the community, not just for the environment,” Baker said. “A healthy river means a healthy community population.”