Schering-Plough Corporation funds project to “rescue” the Great Swamp’s most polluted stream

Schering-Plough Corporation and the Great Swamp Watershed Association today announced a partnership to continue work aimed at improving the water quality of local streams. 

“Schering-Plough has been an enthusiastic supporter of the “Adopt-A-Stream” project since its inception in 2003. They have been good corporate citizens and have helped the Watershed Association to improve the lives of the people in our communities,” said Ruth Kerkeslager, the Association’s Development Director. “The support provided will allow the Watershed Association to continue vital stream monitoring activities, including the chemical analyses of water samples, and to develop a plan for water quality improvements and restoration work,” she said. 

“The Great Swamp Watershed Association has been working for over 20 years to protect the drinking water and preserve land to enhance the quality of life of the people in our communities,” said Erica Ferry, senior director, Community Affairs, Schering-Plough Corporation. “We are pleased to support this important initiative.” 

The program’s first target is Loantaka Brook, the most polluted of the five major streams in the Great Swamp Watershed. It traverses portions of Morristown, Morris Township, Harding Township, Chatham Township and Madison, before exiting the Great Swamp and flowing into the Passaic River. 

“While Loantaka Brook has been degraded by pollution, all of the streams in the Great Swamp—one of New Jersey’s few remaining freshwater wetlands, and a source of drinking water for nearly 1.2 million households in the region—are threatened,” said Kelley Curran the Watershed Association’s Project Director. 

“Thanks to the generous support received from Schering-Plough and our other Corporate Council partners last year, the Watershed Association was able to make significant progress on our Restoration Program on Loantaka Brook. We have already identified several non-point source pollution issues and potential ways to address immediate problems,” added Kerkeslager. “The Watershed Association will now be allowed to continue the necessary water quality sampling and to transition into the next phase of the program, including the development of a plan for water quality improvements and ecological restoration and implementation of remediation measures.”

Identifying pollutants in Loantaka is only the first step in accomplishing Adopt-A-Stream’s goals," Kerkeslager explained. “Long- term the program aims to reduce pollution levels in all five streams in the watershed, to propose and implement solutions, and to continually monitor them.” 

Anyone interested in supporting the Adopt-a-Stream project may call Ruth Kerkeslager at 973-538-3500 x18.

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