Students ‘watch’ out for Raritan River

When University student Casey Economides visited a friend in Maine, she noticed the lakes and rivers were a sharp contrast to the New Jersey waterways her parents never let her swim or fish in.
Economides, along with 115 University and community members, collected more than 100 bags of trash Saturday at the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Student Chapters Community Water Watch first annual street cleanup.
“By pulling together campus and community members, we are raising awareness about pollution and annual street cleanups,” said Economides, NJPIRG’s media intern. “Being a part of this organization makes me feel like I’m making a difference.”
Participants cleaned the streets running into the Mile Run Brook, which flows into the Raritan River, Economides said, including Easton Avenue, Central Avenue, College Avenue, Hamilton Street, Somerset Street and other surrounding side streets.
Economides said people are not aware that trash on the streets can lead to water pollution, especially in streets surrounding the Mile Run Brook, where trash can easily flow into the Raritan River — the 14th most polluted river in the nation, she said.
“People don’t know how much of a negative impact it’s going to make,” Economides said.
She said the event is a forerunner to Earth Day, which takes place on April 18, where organizations will clean up the Mile Run Brook.
New Jersey Community Water Watch discovered a waste site 10 years ago in the Mile Run Brook linked to Rhodia Incorporated, a specialty chemical plant, Economides said.
“It’s been 10 years of work trying to get the river cleaned, but it still has not been restored,” she said.
Nearly 75 percent of New Jersey’s water is deemed unfit for fishing or swimming, Economides said. 
Like Economides, the event’s Campus Organizer Heather Plante said she had a project when she was in college that involved looking at waterways and became really upset when the stream in her backyard smelled of sewage and was so polluted her younger sister could not play in it.
“Water shouldn’t be so polluted that kids can’t play in it,” she said.
Campus outreach coordinator Heather Drugos said the cleanup was a great idea and success.
“I figured our community needs a huge amount of people to help,” said Drugos, a School of Arts and Sciences junior.
Economides agreed.
“We had a great turnout … this is a great stepping stone for Earth Day,” Economides said.
Organizations that participated included the University’s chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society, New Jersey Women’s Alliance Network, Franklin High School Junior ROTC and various fraternities and sororities on campus, according to a press release.
Economides said NJPIRG has three major tactics used to address water quality issues: river cleanups; stream monitoring, which includes collecting water samples and testing them for pollution; and environmental education, which targets student from elementary school up to college.