ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — It's called a "trash hunter." And that's exactly what a newly launched skimmer vessel has been doing on the Passaic River in New Jersey.
The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) recently put a "state of the art" Aquarius Systems TH-12 Trash Hunter Skimmer Vessel into service, which will help the agency keep the waterway free of floating garbage.
The specially designed, 48-foot boat has been on the hunt for more than a month now, patrolling the lower Passaic River around the Newark region, collecting any debris, and offloading it at a PVSC-owned dock in North Arlington.
The vessel weighs nearly 22,500 pounds and can carry up to 5,000 pounds of garbage – no light load.
While smaller than PVSC's larger skimmer vessels, the new boat provides an important advantage: increased maneuverability. Its more compact design allows crews to navigate tighter areas and reach locations that can be difficult for larger vessels to access, including waterways where bridge clearance can limit operations.
No tax funds were used to purchase the new skimmer, which was acquired with grant funding.
According to the sewerage commission, although the quality of water in the Passaic River has improved in recent years, debris continues to enter the waterway as a result of changing tides, stormwater runoff and the influence of various tributaries.
"This addition equips our River Restoration team with another valuable tool to help us remove a significant amount of debris from area waterways every year as we work to reclaim those valuable natural resources," PVSC chair Brendan Murphy said.
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