More than three tons of trash were hauled from the Androscoggin River during the first week of a clean up targeting the entire length of the river in Maine.
Sections of the river in Bethel, Livermore Falls, the Twin Cities, Durham and Lisbon were tackled between last Monday and Saturday. Volunteers hauled 7,084.5 pounds of trash from the depths, said Eric Goodwin.
Goodwin, president of the nonprofit group Communities Getting Involved, is organizing the “Scrub the Scogg” cleanup.
Work resumes today, he said, as Big Brothers and Big Sisters, headed by Nancy Carpenter, will act as the section leader for the Dixfield section with a few Maine Guide services assisting.
Goodwin said the first week represented about a quarter of the effort. Before it’s done, he said more than 100 miles of river in Maine will be scrubbed.
The cleanup will continue throughout the rest of the summer. From the New Hampshire border to Merrymeeting Bay, the river is split into 20 sections spread across 21 municipalities.
Goodwin said his strategy for the clean-up is to get other organizations, businesses, and groups to volunteer to be section leaders. Section leaders recruit volunteers and gather equipment for the effort. CGI helps the section leaders with logistics planning and provides insurance as well as sanctioning through the American Canoe Association, and solicits donations of food, water, some equipment and expertise.
Goodwin said, “By having section leaders this extremely large effort gets broken down into more manageable pieces. Also, this format allows us to work with, include, and form relationships with many other organizations from the Androscoggin Area. … That is what we are all about, getting community members involved in the communities around them.”
Cities and towns are hauling the waste to their respective facilities, Goodwin said.
Some municipalities – Jay, Lisbon, Canton and Turner – also kicked in with funding for the project. Greene, Rumford, Dixfield and Durham are working with CGI to identify and provide funding for the effort.
Other towns have rejected the group’s request for funding or have yet to respond to CGI’s request.
Goodwin noted, “There have also been some very supportive individuals that have donated and we are still very much in fund-raising mode.”
Donations to the nonprofit are tax deductible.
Going forward, Goodwin said some of the cleanup is “still in the planning stages of events, with a few other groups that will make up another quarter of the effort.”
Another section will be completed via a grant from Planet Dog Philanthropy out of Portland, he said, leaving one quarter of the event to be planned.
“We are still in need of small and large groups of all kinds that want to participate and be part of the largest river garbage clean-up in Maine history,” Goodwin said.
For more information about or to contact CGI visit www.communitiesgettinginvolved.org or leave a message at 207-235-2591 or call Goodwin on his cell phone at 207-577-0948.
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