Neighbors of Northwest Branch Cleanup
April 5, 2008

Photos by Anne Ambler and Sue Buckley
The Neighbors of Northwest Branch completed the first cleanup of 2008 on April 5th. About 20 volunteers worked on both sides of the stream north of Route 29 at the Burnt Mills trail head and collected about 20 bags of trash. Three of the volunteers wore chest waders into the stream and collected hundreds of plastic and glass containers, an old rusty muffler and a few lawn chairs. Other volunteers worked along Route 29 and found hubcaps and an old street sign.

A splinter group, led by Ed Murtagh, headed north to where the NW Branch horse trail crosses Kemp Mill Road. They found the flood plain between the road and the stream liberally strewn with civilizations debris. The final count was 11 bags of mixed trash, a pail of plastic and glass bottles, a lawn chair, and a snow board.

These clean-ups really point up the need for a bottle and can deposit and a tax on plastic bags. We also clearly need more raingardens and other measures to infiltrate stormwater and keep it from surging into the NW Branch, gauging its banks and burying fish eggs and trash in mud. Several mud-embedded tires await Neighbors next clean-up.

John Fay with the haul for the day from the Kemp Mill site