Westchester Parks Foundation launches Clean River Project

The Westchester Parks Foundation has launched a new initiative called the Clean River Project.

The initiative, which will focus on the trash and pollutants affecting Westchester”™s waterways, will be funded by a $12,500 sponsorship from Entergy Corp.

As part of the project, the Westchester Parks Foundation and students from Mount Pleasant Cottage School will assemble groups of volunteers to conduct floatable trash assessments at newly installed trash collection booms on the Bronx River.

Once installed, they will document and identify which types, materials, quantities, brands and sources of floatables and pollutants are ending up in the Bronx River. They will then attempt to analyze how the trash is making its way to the river, which may include storm drains without screens, illegal dumping sites or littering.

The initiative was launched with a press conference on Tuesday at the Park at Westchester County Center in White Plains. Those in attendance included Westchester County Executive George Latimer, executive director of the Westchester Parks Foundation Joe Stout, and students and faculty from Mount Pleasant Cottage School.

Based in Ardsley, the Westchester Parks Foundation is a nonprofit that advocates for and invests in the preservation, conservation, use and enjoyment of the county’s parks.