Record turnout for river cleanup

April 19, 2021| Environment, Events

By: Holly Odgers

What a turnout!

Despite the cold, windy, and wet morning this past Saturday, a record number of volunteers came out to clean up the headwaters of the Musconetcong River for the Musconetcong Watershed Association's River Cleanup. The annual cleanup draws hundreds of volunteers to remove trash at 20 different locations along the Musconetcong River, from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware River confluence. The Lake Hopatcong Foundation assists each year by coordinating the Hopatcong State Park portion of the cleanup.

A total of 62 volunteers, including 23 youth, met at Hopatcong State Park, the northern-most cleanup location, and braved the elements to pick up litter and make a positive impact on the health of the river.  The group removed about 22 bags of the usual debris—plastic bags, cans, bottles, shoes, flip-flops, fishing bobbers/line—along with two garbage cans, a tire, and a tailpipe and muffler (no car, thankfully). That's a lot of trash removed from our waterways!

Thank you to everyone who came out to lend a hand and congratulations to the Musconetcong Watershed Association on another successful cleanup. 

Check out the slide show below for a few of the pics from the day.