Clean Up In The Black River

What do an eight-foot long wellpoint, a family of ducks, a trailer axle and a dozen shopping carts all have in common? They were all in the Black River on Saturday, August 28th when the Black River Action Team (BRAT) held the 11th Annual RiverSweep cleanup.

http://compasspaper.com/clean-up-in-the-black-river-p1267-111.htm              # # # #  Clean Up In The Black River  •  Kelly Stettner Thu, Sep 02, 2010  •  What do an eight-foot long wellpoint, a family of ducks, a trailer axle and a dozen shopping carts all have in common? They were all in the Black River on Saturday, August 28th when the Black River Action Team (BRAT) held the 11th Annual RiverSweep cleanup. A pair of bowling pins, a hot water heater, three bicycles, two pillows, a canoe full of rusting metal machine parts, bags full of household trash and food garbage, and bed springs were just some of the amazing haul of the more than 75 Springfield volunteers helping out at this year's RiverSweep. From Boy Scouts to passersby, the volunteer army included long-time BRAT members like Marita Johnson to first-timers such as Edwin Fransen and Brandon Greene; a special addition this year was a gung-ho crew of employees from Black River Produce, the North Springfield company whose diesel fuel pumps were vandalized on August 8th, sending thousands of gallons of fuel into the Black River. The Produce crew was eager to roll up their sleeves and help out their namesake, and they didn't disappoint. Using an old aluminum canoe as a trash barge, the intrepid crew paddled kayaks and waded downstream from North Springfield to the first boom that was installed to capture the floating fuel a few weeks ago. They collected more trash and metal debris than they could carry, stopping to off-load the junk twice at locations for pickup later in the day.  •  The 60 Plaza volunteers included Scout Pack 258 and Troop 252 as well as plenty of individuals and families plus folks who were on their way to or from work. People of all ages hauled out shopping carts, a hubcap, a pair of pillows, close to 200 pounds of broken plaster molds, a stop sign and a street sign for Maple Street (both complete with posts!), 2 partial bicycles and one whole bike, and so much more, covering the river's edges between Riverside Middle School and the Plaza, the Toonerville Trail bike path, Hoyt's Landing and even the small 'Welcome Park' established and maintained by Springfield citizen Harold Grout, down at the river behind the Community Center on Main Street.  •  The trio of BRATs working in Ludlow retrieved a variety of items ranging from an ironing board to metal strapping, but had to leave several items in the river or on the banks due to their size and weight. The BRAT plans a spring "mini-sweep" to retrieve items such as these.  •  2010 marks the 10th birthday of the BRAT, a group founded in 2000 by Kelly Stettner of Springfield . She was crossing a bridge in Springfield, looked over the rail to see what would be lurking in the water below; instead of fish and turtles, she saw shopping carts and tires. "That's terrible!" she exclaimed to her husband, John. "Somebody really ought to do something about that." John elbowed her in the ribs and replied, "Well, you're 'somebody.'" From a three-person cleanup crew that first year to more than 85 volunteers up and down the watershed just a decade later, Stettner continues to be amazed at the support RiverSweep receives every year.  •  Black River Produce brought not only a cleanup crew but also plenty of fresh fruit to keep the volunteers happy; delicious fresh-ground coffee was provided by Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea; Springfield BRATs enjoyed a lunch of Essem hot dogs and Bubba burgers from Main Street Market, grilled to perfection by Jim Young of Young's Furniture & Appliance; Ludlow BRATs were treated to piping hot slices of Wicked Good Pizza. Volunteers in both locations munched on goodies from North Fork Bagels of Ludlow, MadHouse Munchies chips, and lovely hand-decorated birthday cupcakes topped with plastic fishies, courtesy of Shaw's of Springfield . Shaw's of Springfield and Ludlow each donated a gift card to help supply volunteers with drinking water and condiments for their coffee. Nate from Clear Away Rubbish and Removal hauled the metal trash to the scrap-yard and Jim Young of the Springfield Shopping Plaza disposed of the bulk of the remaining junk in the Plaza dumpsters. McDonald's also happily accepted four large bags of garbage retrieved from the river bank next to their restaurant.  •  Donations to the Black River Action Team may be mailed directly to the BRAT at 45 Coolidge Road, Springfield VT 05156 or (for tax-deductible purposes) made out to and mailed to the CT River Watershed Council (with BRAT in the memo), 15 Bank Row, Greenfield MA 01301. Learn more at the BRAT's website, www.BlackRiverActionTeam.org or by calling Kelly Stettner at (802) 885-1533.   •