FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Angela Mrozinski, CRC Outreach & Events Director
amrozinski@ctriver.org, 413-772-2020 ext.204
Alicea Charamut, CRC Lower River Steward
acharamut@ctriver.org, 860-704-0057
New England’s Largest River Cleanup Celebrates 20 Years
Volunteers invited to get hands dirty & feet wet for cleaner rivers
Greenfield, MA – Twenty years ago, a gallon of gas cost $1.22, Prince Charles and Princess Diana had just divorced, and the United States hosted the summer Olympics in Atlanta. Here in New England the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRC) organized the first Source to Sea Cleanup. This annual event has now grown into New England’s largest river cleanup. CRC and volunteers will continue the tradition of getting hands dirty and feet wet for cleaner rivers at the 20th annual Source to Sea Cleanup on Friday & Saturday, September 23 & 24, 2016.
“The Source to Sea Cleanup strengthens community and gives people an opportunity to improve their neighborhoods,” says CRC Executive Director Andrew Fisk. “When people help clean their rivers, they make connections with each other and with their rivers.” The annual Source to Sea Cleanup is a two-day river cleanup coordinated by CRC in all four states of the 410+ mile Connecticut River basin (NH, VT, MA, CT). Each fall, thousands of volunteers of all ages and abilities clean the Connecticut River and its tributaries on foot or by boat. Volunteers remove trash along rivers, streams, parks, boat launches, trails and more. There are three ways for volunteers to get involved in the Cleanup this year: report a trash site in need of cleaning, find a cleanup group near you to join, or organize and register your own local cleanup group. For more information or to register for the event, visit ctriver.org/cleanup.
“Source to Sea Cleanup volunteers have worked hard to combat litter and illegally dumped trash,” says Alicea Charamut, CRC River Steward and organizer of the Cleanup. “Their hard work and dedication is inspiring and makes a real difference for our rivers.” In 2015, more than 2,300 volunteers hauled over 50 tons of trash from river banks and waterways in the four river states. Volunteers remove everything from recyclables, fishing equipment and food waste to tires, televisions, and refrigerators. To date, volunteers have kept more than 947 tons of trash from polluting our rivers. “Some really unbelievable things have been pulled from our rivers, including a cement mixer, parking meters, propane tanks and junk cars,” notes Charamut. This year, CRC will continue cleaning up the many thousands of tires dumped along the Deerfield River in Greenfield, MA, will remove an abandoned oil offloading platform in the Connecticut River in Wethersfield, CT, and remove a 3,000 gallon tank submerged in the Connecticut River near Wilgus State Park in Vermont.
“Generous financial support from lead sponsors—NRG Energy’s Middletown Generating Station, Pratt & Whitney, TransCanada, and Whistler—enable us to organize the thousands of volunteers who participate in the Cleanup and to take on complex projects that require the use of heavy equipment, scuba divers and other professionals to get those really trashed places cleaned up,” says CRC Executive Director Andrew Fisk.
“This is the 11th year we have proudly supported CRC’s Source to Sea event,” said Matthew Cole, Community Relations for TransCanada. “With our thirteen hydropower stations along the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers, we are inextricably linked to these incredible resources and their stewardship.”
“NRG is pleased to be involved with the Source to Sea Cleanup for the 12th year,” notes David Gaier, NRG Senior Director Communications. “Our Middletown Station team of some 15 volunteers, led by NRG’s Keith Shortsleeve, again looks forward to making a positive difference by cleaning up Dart Island and the surrounding Connecticut River shoreline.”
If your group wants to get involved but needs a cleanup site, if you have questions, or if you know of a trash site in need of cleaning, contact CRC’s Cleanup Coordinator Alicea Charamut at cleanup@ctriver.org or 860-704-0057. Learn more about the event at ctriver.org/cleanup.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council works to protect the watershed from source to sea. As stewards of this heritage, we celebrate our four-state treasure and collaborate, educate, organize, restore and intervene to preserve its health for generations to come. Our work informs our vision of economic and ecological abundance.
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