Clean-Up Pulls More Than 300 Tires Out Of Raritan River

Bridgewater, NJ -- Ever wonder what lies along the banks and beneath the surface of the Raritan River?

How about 304 tires, 19 bags of recyclables, 12 bags of miscellaneous garbage, a shopping cart, a complete car seat, a bicycle, a gas tank, an inflatable pool, a car battery, a five-foot section of asbestos piping, a large section construction fencing and random car parts.

All of that and then some were pulled out of the Raritan River on Earth Day, on Friday, April 22 by Central Jersey Stream Team in conjunction with Bridgewater Township as part of Raritan River Week.

The volunteers gathered along the banks of the Raritan River near the Torpey Athletic Compex at 202 Nimitz St. in Bridgewater. This section of the river, called the “Infamous Finderne Farms Tire Dump Site,” is always in need of help.

The CJST has already pulled out more than 1,500 tires at that stretch of the river over the past two years and tons of other trash.

“We learned early on that we wanted to get the garbage out of the river,” said Joe David, co-founder of CJST. “But we learned very quickly it was more about community engagement, which is more important than the actual cleaning.”

David and his friend Steven Van Deursen of Franklin both are former Eagle Scouts. About five years ago the pair went on a canoe ride down the Raritan River to show their children animals and wildlife.

“During the nine-mile trip, we noticed the kids were pointing out a lot more tires and trash than wildlife,” David told Patch.

Inspired to make a difference, the two reached out to towns that bordered the river to ask for help in cleaning up the river.

With the help of volunteers during a few clean-up events, the pair had already pulled out close to 600 tires from the river.

“We thought this would be a one time thing, where we would do something nice and continue on with our lives,” David said. “But after the first event, we didn’t quite finish… It kind of grew from there and then the organization was created.”

The grass-root non-profit organization now hosts clean-ups along the Raritan River every month and has been doing so over the past four years.

They have pulled out about 3,000 tires since the organization was started. Last year 1,284 tires were pulled out of the river.

“It’s kind of crazy what we find,” David said. “We’ve come to a point where we are surprised but not surprised by what we find.”

The organization has pulled out a number of unusual items from the river including:

• Funeral ashes of a womanfrom Arizona
• A blow-up doll,
• Shopping carts,
• Bicycles,
• Anything from a car you could possibly find,
• Full cars,
• ATM, but no money of course,
• People’s wallets,
• Decorative sword,
• Animal bones,
• A lot of mattresses.

“It’s inspiring. We really never thought that our organization would grow this much,” David said. “It’s encouraging that people still want to support us. We know it’s pretty intense work what we do but it’s inspiring and encouraging.”

The organization works in conjunction with local towns and the Somerset County Parks Commission. All donations received go to funding an event.

Each event costs on average of $500, which includes food for the volunteers, supplies, equipment, insurance and more.

For more information Central Jersey Stream Team, an upcoming volunteer event or to donate visit www.cjstreamteam.org or Facebook.

(Photos, Central Jersey Stream Team Facebook)