Disaster Averted: Dumped Bamboo, Logs In Farm River Cleaned Out

EAST HAVEN, CT — The cut stands of "green" bamboo and huge logs that were dumped into the Farm River, which East Haven Public Works Superintendent Charlie Coyle said could have created a "disaster" as the thick debris was piling up near a train trestle, had to be removed by town public works staff in wading boots, helped by the Shore Line Trolley Museum's staff who brought out a crane, when the tide was low Monday.

Coyle said the unplanned work, which occupied many workers for many hours, could have been avoided.

"Everything else stops and we go," he said, adding that the dumped tree and plant debris was a hazard.

"It came right up against the trestle. If we didn't clean it out, it could have been disastrous," Coyle said.

When asked if it was storm debris, Coyle said "No."

"Someone dumped it in the river," of that he said there is "no doubt," he said. He noted that while the recent storm may have moved some of the thick bamboo, which he said was "green and cut," the big logs and stumps were likely dumped on or near the river bank "by someone up stream."

Also angered by the whomever is responsible, John Proto, executive director of the Branford Electric Railway Association and the Shore Line Trolley Museum, called the dumping "unfortunate." He told Patch Monday that there were "six town trucks and at least as many town employees" working the clear the river.

"These guys are wading in knee deep water to clear the river," he said. "It's unfortunate that someone decided to use the river as a dumping ground but probably best that one of our trestles caught all of this debris before it could cause any more damage down stream."

And then he thanked the town for its work to clear the river of "a lot of bamboo," which is a non-native invasive plant species, "and a cut tree that someone carelessly deposited into the Farm River."

Coyle agreed: "It's sad that people just don't care. It's a shame when throw stuff like that into the river. But we just have to deal with it and move on." The job took hours, but Coyle said it would have taken longer if not for the museum's crane to help lift the debris.