Help Please Andy

[Billfish715]

This "bottle neck" is on the Rahway River in Cranford at the end of Riverside Drive near a trout stocking point. I sent copies of the pictures to the editor or the local "Patch" hoping to stir some interest in a community group effort to clean it up. Andy, do you have any connections with any of the Rahway River or Cranford environmental groups?

If anyone on this board is from the Kenilworth or Cranford area, please spread the word about this environmental nightmare. I'm not from the immediate area but spotted this mess while I was walking through the Nomahegan Park area today. As I said, that stretch of river gets stocked several times each trout season.

Absolutely unreal how disrespectful many people are of the environment. If government wants to levy taxes and increase revenues, this is one area I'd focus on and make the fines for littering so excessive it would force change of behavior. Absolutely disgusting to see those pictures. Hopefully Andy or someone else on the board can help with your request.

[AndyS]

WHOA !!!
Glad they got a 3 mile extension on trout stocking !!
I was just down at the Raritan river getting ready for opening day with The1.

[AndyS]

What you have to do is go "unrelenting" By that I mean send these photos around the towns, county, State, country and world.

[Billfish715]

The pictures have been sent and I've received a few responses. Since this spot is near one of the Union County Parks, I reached out to an official from the parks' commission. He was very helpful and contacted their environmental person. Unfortunately, things may have to wait until Earth Day before an organized effort gets underway through the town. Since all things flow downstream, he understood what I meant when I reminded him of how eventually this mess would affect the other county parks which are downstream.

I'm waiting to hear from the local "Patch" editor and from the Boy Scout Troop. The next contact will be the Rahway River Watershed Commission. There is a TU Chapter listed in Cranford as well. They will definitely get some pictures.

This (pardon the pun) bottleneck reminded me of the one you cleaned up on the Green Brook. I'm just concerned that when we get a drenching rain, that jam will cut loose and everything will infect another spot. I'll keep at it.

As for the additional miles of stocking, this spot is far upstream from there, but the litter collection spots get worse the farther downstream you go.

[logs22]

Originally Posted by Billfish715

The pictures have been sent and I've received a few responses. Since this spot is near one of the Union County Parks, I reached out to an official from the parks' commission. He was very helpful and contacted their environmental person. Unfortunately, things may have to wait until Earth Day before an organized effort gets underway through the town. Since all things flow downstream, he understood what I meant when I reminded him of how eventually this mess would affect the other county parks which are downstream.

I'm waiting to hear from the local "Patch" editor and from the Boy Scout Troop. The next contact will be the Rahway River Watershed Commission. There is a TU Chapter listed in Cranford as well. They will definitely get some pictures.

This (pardon the pun) bottleneck reminded me of the one you cleaned up on the Green Brook. I'm just concerned that when we get a drenching rain, that jam will cut loose and everything will infect another spot. I'll keep at it.

As for the additional miles of stocking, this spot is far upstream from there, but the litter collection spots get worse the farther downstream you go.

Below are just a few of my own pics taken of the Rahway Rive in Cranford off Riverside Drive/Nomahegan Park. Like you, I sent a bunch of these to the local patch about 5 years ago and emailed a bit with an editor working for the site, but nothing was ever published. There is one annual river cleanup of the Cranford stretch that I am aware of. I do what I can when I walk my dog along the river or fish it, but it doesn’t seem to put a dent in the trash that is constantly accumulating every time the river floods (something that happens with unfortunate frequency).

[logs22]

The Cranford Patch editor I spoke with in 2014 was Carly Kilroy. I actually proposed that Cranford should require that any community service imposed as punishment by the Cranford municipal court must include river clean-up work. There is nothing preventing a judge from requiring That community service punishments can only be satisfied if the service includes a certain number of hours dedicated to cleaning up the river. If we can’t get volunteers to clean up the mess, then use the criminals!

[Billfish715]

I found an email address for the local TU president to whom I sent pictures and a location. That group does a river clean up separate from the townwide effort. I'm hoping the address of the person to whom I sent my pictures is correct or that someone from that chapter of TU trolls this message board.

The trout will be going in this week and I doubt there is any hope for the bottles and trash to be gone. Too bad. That is a stretch that holds fish and is seldom fished by many people.

[calapp]

I saw the spot you are referring to today. Volunteer cleanup might be difficult because it looks too deep to wade. Until the remaining downed trees from Sandy and Irene are removed, these places will continue to accumulate trash. In any event, here is the contact for the Cranford Environmental Commissioner:

Nelson Dittmar
Email: Candndittmar@cs.com

Mention that the location is opposite house number 620 Riverside.Good luck.

[AndyS]

3/30/19: My friend Anton wrote : Tipped off to another trash dam, this time on the Rahway River, I ventured out to find the site. It wasn't hard to locate as it's very close to and visible from Riverside Drive in Cranford which also happens to be a very active pathway for a series of Union County parks. On this beautiful spring day at least 100 people had to have walked by in 3+ hours and not one offered to help and only one said thank you.