Cleanup rescues river from trash and tires
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

Hudson resident Marty Moran hits the jackpot during last year's annual river clean-up. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Region - The Assabet River, which originates in Westborough, falls 320 feet as it cascades through Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, Hudson, Stow, Maynard, Acton and Concord, where it then merges with the Sudbury River to form the Concord River.

The river is protected by the Organization for the Assabet River (OAR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the river's natural watershed. The OAR is hosting the 21st annual Assabet River Cleanup Saturday Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The twisting beauty and charm of the river has inspired visual artists, literary novelists and poets for years.

"A lovelier stream than this has never flowed on earth," wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne, a 19th-century American novelist. The river Hawthorne wrote about in the late 1800s became home to several thriving industrial and residential settlements.

Today the river watershed has a population of about 177,000 for which it provides both the wastewater disposal and water supply. With the population growth over the past century, the river has been burdened with the impact of residential waste pollution.

Julia Khorama, a member of the OAR, explained that organization has two challenges in enhancing the quality of the river; one is to improve the quality of water coming out of the seven wastewater treatment plants along the river and the other is to fish out and dispose of the residential trash and litter that is thrown into the river.

The annual river cleanup targets the residential trash polluting the river. In years past the OAR and volunteers have pulled literally tons of trash out of the river, including refrigerators, a Volkswagen car, tires and scrap metal accumulating enough trash to make a small mountain, Khorama said.

"The river is so low this year we will be able to get things we have not been able to get in the past," she said.

The clean-up group has picked areas along the river in each community where the river is most polluted with trash.

A couple of the targeted areas are the section of the river beneath the rail trail bridge in Hudson that has eight bikes in it, and behind the Horse Shoe pub, where the river is littered with bottles and tires.

The OAR has been pleased with the volunteer support of the towns; in years past they've had 287 volunteers, Khorma said. The organization does ask that if people are interested in volunteering that they register first in order to be sure that people dress appropriately.

Volunteers should wear long pants and proper protective gear to safeguard against poison ivy and other potentially harmful things, Khorma said.

The OAR is expecting at least 150 volunteers with several Boy Scout and other service organizations in the seven towns already committed to the clean-up. The organization also uses a team of volunteers who are willing to use their boats to tow out debris. The local Department of Public Works will then take all of the waste and recycle or dispose of the trash.

"Unfortunately trash is still being thrown into the river," Khorma said. "Two years ago we pulled out a tire that was over five feet tall out behind Whispering Pines and that had to have been dumped by whoever owned it."

For more information about the river, or to volunteer for the clean-up, contact the OAR at 978-369-3956 or visit the Web site at www.assabetriver.org.