Volunteers Needed to Help Clean Loantaka Brook
Local Environmental Groups Plan to Battle Pollution for National River Cleanup Week

Morristown, NJ – The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) and the Morris County Park Commission are planning to tackle pollution and clean up the Loantaka Brook in Morris Township on Saturday, June 7th, as part of National River Cleanup Week 2008. The public is encouraged and invited to help. The organized cleanup will take place from 9:30 am to 12 noon and volunteers should meet at the Loantaka Brook Reservation Kitchell Pond Area Pavilion in Morris Township.

National River Cleanup Week is presented by American Rivers and kicks off with a nationwide series of community-based stream cleanups the week of May 31 – June 8, 2008. This popular annual event raises public awareness of the magnitude of trash accumulating in our nation’s waterways. Morris County volunteers will be joining tens of thousands of other volunteers across the country working at hundreds of cleanup sites to remove trash from local rivers and streams. Kelley Curran, GSWA Director of Water Quality Programs, says about National River Cleanup Week, “Last year, our army of volunteers pitched in to fill several dozen garbage bags, removing everything from bottles and cans, tennis, golf and soccer balls to car tires and many unidentifiable manmade objects. We hope that this year’s Loantaka Brook Clean-Up helps to broaden even further the public’s attention on the fact that a healthier river makes for a healthier community that everyone can enjoy.”

Anyone interested in helping to clean Loantaka Brook on June 7 should call Kelley Curran at 973-538-3500, ext. 16 or email kcurran@greatswamp.org.

For more information about National River Cleanup Week, visit www.nationalrivercleanup.org.

 

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Founded in 1981, the Great Swamp Watershed Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the water and land of the 36,000-acre watershed region in Morris and Somerset counties. The organization works to maintain the beauty and health of open space, and to monitor and protect five streams: Loantaka Brook, Great Brook, Primrose Brook, Black Brook, and the headwaters of the Passaic River — which feed into the Passaic River and providing drinking water to more than a million people.
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