Green River Cleanup from WilliNet TV 2 on Vimeo.

On August 28, 2016, the South Williamstown Community Association and the Hoosic River Watershed Association, assisted by some members of the general public, collected  approximately 15 trash bags of glass and other debris from the Green River opposite Hart’s Trucking.

There was a town landfill there from about 1948 until 1960 and high water (especially  since Hurricane Irene) causes broken glass and other debris to be washed into the river.  SWCA Board Member Wayne Olivieri got in touch with HooRWA about this in 2015 and HooRWA arranged a site visit on October 6, 2015 attended by Williamstown’s Director of Public Works Tim Kaiser, Health Officer Jeff Kennedy, HooRWA’s Steve McMahon, Tom Hyde and Lauren Stevens, SWCA’s Mark Thaisz and Charles Clines and Dan Hall from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Clines and Hall came back to do a more detailed survey of the area in November and concluded that the landfill covers approximately four acres and appears to contain ash, metal, and glass and to run 400 linear feet along the river bank.  They recommend monitoring and expressed concern about any downed trees that direct the flow of water toward the river bank, producing further erosion.

With the assistance of Willinet’s Peter Iwasiwka, Pam Burger and Bette Craig have produced a video on the river cleanup and background of the issue which will be available on Willinet and on the SWCA website, www.new.southwilliamstown.org.

If you would like to support the work of HooRWA with a membership, go to the website,  www.HooRWA.org or email Executive Director Steve McMahon @hoorwa.org.