Central Jersey Stream Team
Central Jersey Stream Team

2016 Event Dates

March 26

April 22

May 16 (BB)

May 22

May 29 (Bonus)

June 6 (BB)

June 25

July 3 (Bonus)

July 24

August 20

August 28 (Bonus)

September 24

October 22

October 31 (BB)

November 12

November 21 (BB)

December 3

 

 

2016

Our 2016 Cleanup season is underway and our 4th season is a go! For the first time ever CJST is leaving the Raritan for some events and working on a few tributaries. Be sure to sign up for an event or two and be the change you wish to see in the world! 

 

2016 Tire Count

3/26       73

4/22     304

5/16       50

5/22     118

5/29       38

6/6         50

6/25     115

7/3         46

7/24       45

8/20       87

8/28       92

9/24       91

10/22     20

10/31       1

11/12     15

11/21     13

12/3        7

Total    1,165

12/03/2016 - Manville Lost Valley Cleanup!

Apologies for the late notice but we needed to confirm our location and the holiday screwed up everyone's schedule.  Hope many of you can still attend!

 

Please join CJST for a cleanup along the Royce Brook and Millstone River in the Lost Valley section of Manville!  Yes, you read that correctly... this will be CJST's first major cleanup in the Millstone watershed!  We did a small portion of this area last year when we used this as a starting point for a Raritan cleanup downstream.  This time will be cleaning a patch of woods in the floodplain and along the Royce Brook and Millstone banks.  There are a few larger items but it will be mainly a litter and flood debris cleanup.  If conditions allow, some volunteers may wade into the brook to remove a few items and if we get enough volunteers, we will try to clean the other side of the brook too.  We will be partnering with the Manville DPW, who will be providing dumpsters to separate metal and other trash.  Manville helped us last year when we cleaned Duke Parkway Park (although we don't expect to find nearly as much trash this time).

 

If you haven't been to Lost Valley recently, you will be surprised how many homes have been purchased and torn down through the Blue Acres program.  These homes had been subjected to repetetive flooding from storms and it became more prudent to remove these buildings from the floodplain than to continually repair them. 

 

The event begins at 8:00 AM at the southwestern end of Lincoln Avenue past its intersection with Benjamin Street (use 2 Lincoln Avenue, Manville, NJ 08835 as the closest address). Come on out and join us for sign up, instructions and safety...and enjoy some breakfast on us.

 

Please note that registration/RSVP is important so that we know what kind and how many supplies and refreshments to bring and set up.

 

Volunteer Instructions:

 

1.Bring along your family and friends! It's going to be a really fun and great day! The more junk we find the more rewarding the experience! Meetup is 8:00 AM at the end of Lincoln Avenue (near 2 Lincoln Avenue, Manville, NJ 08835).  There is plenty of parking available along the gravel road or on the grass.  Please note there are two ways into Lost Valley... the tunnel on Kyle Street and the bridge on North Bridge Street.  If your vehicle is taller than 7'-8", DO NOT use the Kyle Street tunnel or we will be throwing parts of your roof into the dumpster.  If your vehicle is shorter (and not too wide), use Kyle Street because the tunnel is cool.  For those unsure, use the bridge!   

 

2. If you plan to wade in the river please wear waders or tall boots.  The water will probably to low and there aren't too many items in the water.  If you have a canoe and don't mind going out on the water in December, there are a few items floating in the river that you can get, and or possibly provide transportation across the brook if we do go on the other side. 

 

3. If you are staying on land wear sturdy footwear and clothing you don't mind getting a little to very dirty...depending on what you might find...and how deep it's buried! Also, part of this area has a lot of thorn bushes to dress appropriately.

 

CJST will provide the rest!  Garbage bags, work gloves, tools, life jackets, breakfast and water for volunteers.

 

So come on out! We look forward to restoring this small piece of the wathershed with you!

 

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11/12/2016 - Peter's Brook Greenway Cleanup!

Please note that this cleanup has been moved from Sunday, November 13th to Saturday, November 12th due to some schedule conflicts of the organizers.  We apologize for the change but we can't let you clean unsupervised, now can we?  And who would bring breakfast and all the tools?!

 

Please join CJST for a cleanup along the Peter's Brook Greenway in Somerville and Bridgewater!  We have cleaned parts of this greenway before but this cleanup will cover a few new sections. We will be cleaning the woods and floodplain on both sides of the greenway parking area located off Southside Avenue including a short section of Peter's Brook.  If conditions allow, some volunteers may wade into the brook to remove a few tires and a bike.  We will be partnering with the Somerset County Park Commission, which has been a strong supporter of CJST for many years. 

 

The event begins at 8:00 AM at the Peter's Brook Greenway parking area off Southside Avenue about halfway between Hamilton Street and Dutch Lane (use 138 Southside Avenue, Bridgewater, NJ 08807 as the closest address). Come on out and join us for sign up, instructions and safety...and enjoy some breakfast on us.

 

Please note that registration/RSVP is important so that we know what kind and how many supplies and refreshments to bring and set up.

 

Volunteer Instruction:

 

1.Bring along your family and friends! It's going to be a really fun and great day! The more junk we find the more rewarding the experience! Meetup is 8:00 AM at the Peter's Brook Greenway parking area (near 138 Southside Avenue, Bridgewater, NJ 08807).  There is plenty of parking available in the gravel lot. 

 

2. If you plan to wade in the river please wear waders or tall boots.  The water will probably to low and there aren't too many items in the water.

 

3. If you are staying on land wear sturdy footwear and clothing you don't mind getting a little to very dirty...depending on what you might find...and how deep it's buried!

 

CJST will provide the rest!  Garbage bags, work gloves, tools, life jackets, breakfast and water for volunteers.

 

So come on out! We look forward to restoring this small piece of the wathershed with you!

 

10/22/2016 - Back in the Green (Brook)! Thomae Park Cleanup!

Please join CJST for a cleanup along the Green Brook upstream of a section we did in May 2016.  We will be cleaning around Thomae Park and Shepherd Avenue in Bridgewater and the woods along about a half mile of the Green Brook.  If conditions allow, some volunteers may wade into the brook to remove plenty of tires, plastic trash cans, floatable and other debris.  We will be partnering with Bridgewater Township, who has been helping CJST since the very beginning in 2013. 

 

The event begins at 8:00 AM at Thomae Park in Bridgewater (use "Thomae Park" or 305 Nagle Street, Bound Brook as the closest address). Come on out and join us for sign up, instructions and safety...and enjoy some breakfast on us.

 

Please note that registration/rsvp is important so that we know what kind and how many supplies and refreshments to bring and set up.

 

Volunteer Instruction:

1.Bring along a friend or 5! It's going to be a really fun and great day! The more junk we find the more rewarding the experience! Meetup is 8:00 AM at Thomae Park (near 305 Nagle Street, Bound Brook, NJ 08805).  Parking available in the gravel lot or along Nagle Street. 

 

2. If you plan to wade in the river be prepared to get WET!...and DIRTY! So dress accordingly. Wear sturdy footwear and clothing you don't mind getting wet and dirty!  No flip-flops!  No canoes on this cleanup.  If you have a fishing net you dont mind using to scoop up floating plastic bottles, bring it!

 

3. If you are staying on land wear sturdy footwear and clothing you don't mind getting a little to very dirty...depending on what you might find...and how deep it's buried!

 

CJST will provide the rest!  Garbage bags, work gloves, tools, life jackets, breakfast and water for volunteers.

 

So come on out! We look forward to restoring this small piece of the wathershed with you!

 

8/20/2016 - Neshanic Mills and Thrills! South Branch Cleanup!

CJST successfully completed a very special river cleanup bringing us back to one of the original sections of the 2013 inaugural season. We started at the Elm Street Bridge in Neshanic Station and cleaned roughly a 2.2 mile stretch of the South Branch of the Raritan River and its banks between the Branchburg and Hillsborough borders. 

 

The event started at 8:00 AM at the Neshanic Flea Market (100 Elm Street, Neshanic Station, NJ 0853) which was graciously approved for CJST to use as staging and parking! The Flea Market is open from 6:30am till 1pm every Sunday weather permitting if anyone would like to stop down there to have a look.

 

This clean-up would not have been successful without the more than 20+ volunteers from Colgate in Piscataway. They most graciously provided bottled water, lunch and snack materials as well as bug sprays and sunblock. Our partnership with this great group from Colgate has only grown and we ambitioulsy look forward to working with them alot more in the future.

 

Again a very large Thank You to Raritan RiverKeeper / BayKeeper for the generous use of thier Canoes and Canoe Trailer.

 

Also we would like to give a huge Thank You to all of our Veteren and New River Warriors! Without this wonderful group of people, the planning that the Board of CJST does would never be successful. We are forever indebted to you all.

 

Overall, we managed to pull out 87 tires, part of a pool cover, a 50 foot PVC pipe, some fencing, a bicycle, a childrens toy car, heavy metal objects, road block materials, a rug and numerous recyclable materials. With great thanks and a strong working relationship, The Township of Hillsborough will be hauling away our findings for us as well as recycling the tires and other materials. 

 

Photos will be posted shortly to our photos page for this event! 

 

Another Central Jersey Stream Team event is in the books as a success as we look forward to September 24th at 8am, at which time we will reconviene at River Side Park in Piscataway for our next Clean-up. 

 

 

 




 

Saturday March 26th

The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

Finderne Farms in Bridgewater NJ. (Lower flood plain closer to the Van Veghten House)

Project Support-Somerset County Parks Commission

Results! 

16 Volunteers

73 Tires

2 Shopping Carts (1 was a childrens car version)

45 Bags of recyclables and trash

9 Traffic Cones

1 Blow-up doll...many golf balls...

and a mattress, a womans lost wallet (returned!), couch cushion, lots of orange construction fencing and lots of other miscellaneous trash. 

 

Our volunteers covered an absolutely massive area of the flood plain including several side channels and ponds on river left. We even found a few tires in the river that we waded in to retrieve. It was an absolutely incredible way to kick off our 2016 season!

Friday April 22nd

CJST Earth Day Cleanup! How Will You Give Back?

Finderne Farms in Bridgewater  NJ (Tire dump site near lower soccer field)

Project Support-Raritan River Week/Bonnie Brae School/Somerset County Parks Commission

Results!

26 Volunteers

304 Tires (288 forklift/16 car+truck)

19 Bags recyclables

12 Bags Miscellaneous trash

1 Vehicle seat

1 Car battery

1 Inflatable pool, some sort of gas tank, 5 foot large asbestos pipe, orange construction fencing and a ton of other miscellaneous metal and car parts. 

 

Going back to this site meant a great deal to CJST...especially as part of Raritan River Week.  We know our work may never truly be done here but our volunteers did a truly remarkable job and we couldn't be more proud. We were especially proud to have the young men of the Bonnie Brae School join our team for the first but certanly not the last time in 2016. Without the efforts of these hardworking guys we'd be a lot more tired and we'd accomplish a lot less. Moving forward at this site there is much more work to be done...but finding tires will be a bit more of a challenge from now on!

Monday May 16th

Bonnie Brae Cleanup #1

Robert Street (Foundation next to the old Price's Salvage Yard)

Project Support-Bonnie Brae/Somerset County Parks Commission

Results!

8 Volunteers (3 CJST/3 Bonnie Brae Students/2 BB Supervisors)

50 Tires

Lots of random metal and car parts

 

CJST had the great privelage of working with 3 students and 2 supervisors from the Bonnie Brae School. This marks our 3rd year working with these incredible students. For this event we visited the adjacent lot next to the old Price's Salvage Yard off of Robert Street in Bridgewater. Archaeology was the theme of the day as the boys uncovered tire after twisted tire from the old home foundation on site just a few yards from the Raritan River. No telling how long they have been there but we estimate at least a few decades. CJST and Bonnie Brae couldn't be more proud to help the Somerset County Parks Commission restore this beautiful area back to its natural state. 

Sunday May 22nd

Green Brook! Clean Brook!

Green Brook in Middlesex and Bound Brook Boroughs

(Lower Half Mile/Islands North of Union Avenue down to the Raritan River)

Project Support-Middlesex Borough/International We Love U Foundation!

Results!

? Volunteers

118 Tires

More bags of trash and recyclables than we could count...but we estimate well over 100!

1 Shopping cart 

4 Bicycles

2 Balloon Time helium tanks

1 Grill

1Sink

2 Big orange traffic barrels

1 Deck umbrella

1 Mattress

1 Box spring

2 Pillows

1 Sleeping bag

1 long piece of orange construction fencing, plastic chairs, plastic buckets, real estate sign, garden hose,

door frame, big plastic cooler, misc metaland plastic, two long black ribbed pipes and 5 bags of sports balls.

 

This cleanup was one for the record books as CJST ventured away from the Raritan (a little bit) and onto the Green Broook between the Boroughs of Middlesex and Bound Brook. With incredible support from Middlesex Borough and volunteers from the International We Love U Foundation and Bridgewater Raritan NHS as well as many new and returning individuals we collected our biggest pile ever! Split up into 6 teams our large group went to work diligently and did absolutely amazing work on this short stretch of the Green Brook. And the best result is that none of this trash will end up in the Raritan River and eventually the Atlantic. CJST looks forward to getting back in the Green Brook and getting to know our new friends in the area even better! Green Brook! Clean Brook! Now it is!

 

Sunday May 29th

Operation Clean Sweep!

Main Stem Raritan River between Bridgewater and Hillsborough

Peters Brook to Torpey Athletic Complex 

Project Support

2 Volunteers (Jens Riedel and Andy Still)

38 Tires

 

Tires were the name of the game as Jens and Andy did a terrific clean sweep of an area worked over last year between the Peters Brook and the infamous Finderne Farms tire dump site. This was a fun little bonus project undertaken on a day off by these two incredible River Warriors and it brought the tire count for the year to an inpressive 583! And it's not even June yet!!! Hopefully more of these impromtu sustainability projects are on the horizon for CJST!

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