Over 150 people showed up on Sept. 23 to help with the Annual Neponset River Cleanup, including many community volunteers from Hyde Park and all across the watershed.
It was a team effort
We owe a lot of thanks to our cleanup volunteers, beginning with our Hyde Park planning committee and our incredible group of site captains. In addition, we had outstanding help from members of Pile Drivers, Commercial Scuba Divers & Dock Builders Local 56 Boston; Carpenters Local Union 33 Boston; Carpenters Local Union 67 Boston; employees of McCrea’s Candies; students from Becker College and the Wentworth Institute of Technology; and members of the New England Aquarium live blue Service Corp.
Although we found an incredible array of debris, the total amount of material that we removed from the River was less than what we’ve found in the past. Based on what we removed, it appears that we’re finally making progress in clearing out decades worth of trash from the water.
Debris from the cleanup includes:
72 auto tires + 1 tractor tire
4 large car seats (NOT child car seats)
Various car parts
Automobile drive train
Car battery
Side mirror from car
Motorcycle chassis
20 shopping carts
Many shopping cart pieces
1 large metal safe
Black top pieces
20+ cinder blocks
15+ wheelbarrows full of bricks
6 – 2″x6″x 6′ lengths of construction waste lumber
3 wooden boards
Filled contractor bag w/construction materials
1 steel ladder
1 steel girder
2 paint cans
Plastic stripping
Metal debris from train track
Several sections of chain link fencing
1 wheelbarrow full of misc metal wire
30+ metal rods or pipes, various lengths
2 large corroded sheets of heavy gauge aluminum
Tree trunk sections, limbs, foliage
Discarded shrubs
Huge pile of landscaping waste
30’ hall runner rug
Big pile of half-rotted wall-to-wall carpet
Stroller parts
Handlebar from razor scooter
Many shoes
Baby gate
2 house doors
8 bikes
1 TV
1 lamp pole w/ wiring
1 toilet
1 large industrial sink
1 mattress and bed spring
1 folding chair
3 milk crates
Old blanket
Large pieces of foam
Jacket
24 bags of trash
Lots of plastic bags
Dozens of plastic bottles/cans
Misc. bits of plastic & trash
1 sawed off shotgun
1 hand gun – loaded
Dead animal, possibly cat
Many items buried deep and too big to move without heavy equipment
Click here to view cleanup photos.
In addition, the following sponsors were instrumental in making the cleanup possible:
State Representative Angelo M. Scaccia
MA Dept. of Conservation & Recreation
City Councilor Michael Flaherty
City Councilor Tim McCarthy
City Councilor Michelle Wu
Home Depot – West Roxbury
Hyde Park Main Streets
James G. Grant Co.
Katsiroubas Bros.
Mario Musto General Contractor
McCrea’s Candies
Mike Bonanno Collision Specialists
Noannet Group
Paddle Boston
Parkway Towing
R. Zoppo Construction
Shaws
Stop & Shop
Tecnu
Tierney Realty
Walgreens