STATEWIDE — River enthusiasts will gather Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. in Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus for the first annual Hackensack River paddle, which will kick-off with remarks by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and Captain Bill Sheehan, the Hackensack Riverkeeper. Riverkeeper is an environmental organization.
“I’m pretty honored by the fact that [Waterkeeper Alliance] chose the Hackensack Riverkeeper to be the first Waterkeeper program to do a SPLASH event,” said Bill Sheehan. “This is a program that will eventually reach out to Waterkeeper programs all of over the United States.”
Sheehan said the goal of the event is to raise awareness about the Hackensack River, to present opportunities for individuals to get involved, and to raise money for Hackensack Riverkeeper, which has been around since 1997. He said the state of the river has improved but that there is still a lot of work to be done to address pollution from combined sewage overflow, legacy pollution sites, and storm water runoff.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. in Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus. Remarks are at 11 a.m. At 11:30 a.m. participants will be shuttled by bus to the Carlstadt River Barge where the 4 mile river paddle will begin. Music will follow at the end in Laurel Hill County Park.