Upper Andro Anglers Alliance And Telstar High School Students To Clean Up Androscoggin River

As part of National River Cleanup, members of the Upper Andro Anglers Alliance and students from the Telstar Challenge Course at Telstar High School in Bethel, Maine will clean up a section of the Androscoggin River from Gilead to Bethel on Thursday, May 15. Twenty students, ages 16-18, will float down the river in rafts armed with garbage bags and towing garbage scow rafts to collect debris along the riverbanks. One clean-up flotilla will launch at 9 am from the Gilead bridge and take out at Newt’s Landing in West Bethel and a second group will launch at 9 am from West Bethel and take out at Davis Park in Bethel.

Rivers and watersheds have been used as dumps for old appliances, shopping carts and other refuse. Litter, such as foam cups, plastic bottles and food wrappers float into waterways, build up along the shoreline and stay there for years. With landfill space at a premium, recycling efforts stymied by a lack of plant capacity and toxic waste expensive to control, a grassroots effort can help maintain a constituency for preserving and protecting waterways. Last year 600 tons of trash and debris was collected and 7,453 miles of rivers cleaned. The Upper Andro is expected to yield a lot of large debris such as tires, old appliances and car parts.

Rafts and garbage scow rafts will be provided by Professional River Runners and Magic Falls Rafting Company, whitewater outfitters from West Forks, Maine. The town of Bethel will provide trash collection and delivery to the town’s solid waste facility. American Rivers and NRC sponsor Tom’s of Maine are supplying trash bags.

The Upper Andro Anglers Alliance is co-ordinating the local clean up. Says UAAA director Scott Stone “There’s been a decades long effort to improve the water quality and fishery. Now we need to improve the shore land zone and access to this wonderful river.”

National River Cleanup was founded in 1992 by America Outdoors, the largest association of America’s outfitters and guides, to assist local groups in keeping waterways clean. Beginning in 2007 American Rivers assumed administration of the river clean up. American Rivers, founded in 1973, is the nation’s leading river advocacy organization. NRC Information is published on line at www.nationalrivercleanup.org.