Visitors crossing the bridge into Snipes Park find themselves in a riverside oasis surrounded by trees and long grass. One of the original parks set aside when the area was being developed, it affords shoppers and people working at the nearby office buildings a place for a quiet lunch.
Down the road lies the much larger, county-owned Laurel Hill Park. Laurel Hill Park has a boat launch, a playground, and a ball field, and attracts visitors looking for recreation throughout the summer.
Although both parks are well kept upon first glance, closer inspection reveals drink bottles, plastic bags, lumber, and other garbage littering the banks of the Hackensack River. To get rid of the trash and raise awareness about solid waste in the river, the parks are the next targets for summer cleanups by the local branch of the non-profit Riverkeeper environmental group.
Hackensack Riverkeeper’s summer cleanup for Snipes Park is slated for Sunday, Aug. 31, and Laurel Hill Park is slated for Saturday, Aug. 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The cleanups have been going on all summer up and down the banks of the Hackensack River in Bergen and Hudson County, most recently at Overpeck Creek County Park in Leonia.
“The river cleanups are grass roots environmental advocacy at its finest,” said Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan. “It gives our volunteers a chance to come out and, with their own hands, do something that makes a difference. We do them to highlight the problem of people who don’t control the solid waste in their lives.”
Cleaning from a canoe
Riverkeeper, along with a crew of typically 30 to 40 people, arrives at the park at 8:30 to set up base camp. This includes a rack of canoes, paddles, and life jackets on a trailer, a popup tent with gloves and pick-up sticks, and a wash station.
Sheehan describes the pick-up tools as giant chopsticks attached by a lever in the center.
“I call them chopsticks,” Sheehan said. “They’re much safer than the poles with the sharp ends.”
The volunteers split up, with some patrolling the land and some piling into canoes to search the water. The canoes can access areas of bank that are not easily accessible by land. The Riverkeeper uses its pontoon boats as garbage barges, where volunteers can empty their canoes. The pontoon garbage barge will then load up the Dumpsters.
“We encounter anything that floats. You name it,” said Sheehan. “We’ve taken out countless tires, including the rims, plastic bags, generic beer bottles, oil cans, plastic, and some aluminum. It’s really strange that one of the biggest pollution sources are plastic water bottles.”
Another common piece of debris is balls like footballs, soccer balls, and softballs. Volunteer Kelly Palazzi has started a recycling program where she will clean and donate the balls to organizations that need them.
Sheehan has been scouting the parks from the river, and said that although it isn’t widely visible from the water, there is some pretty big debris on the shore, including Styrofoam containers such as coolers.
“Styrofoam will stick around in the environment for a long time. They’ve got a half-life that probably rivals nuclear waste,” joked Sheehan.
Unfortunately, the river provides an endless source of litter, as solid waste is swept downstream from towns in Bergen County.
“The sad part is that sometimes, a week after we get done, there is trash back in the river,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan said that proper waste disposal is essential to keeping the river clean whether you live on the water or not.
“Everyone has a role in their daily lives to dispose of their garbage so it doesn’t wind up in the river. Some people are very careful about throwing out trash,” said Sheehan. “Some people leave their trash loose and the garbage men can spill it, and that gets washed into the storm drains and into the river. There is an overarching story. Let’s stop getting this stuff into the river in the first place.”
After the cleanup, volunteers will get lunch from Natoli’s. The cleanup is rain or shine, although if it rains, Sheehan expects a smaller turnout.