Tufts Water Watch kicked off another semester of cleaning up the Mystic River Sunday with a volunteer-led cleanup effort along the river's banks.
The clean up effort involved removing trash from the river banks along a half mile stretch of the Mystic River.
"A lot of the community along the river aren't aware that there's any problems with it so there's children swimming in the river. So we're looking for awareness right now but also the long term goal is to make the river accessible," said Zack Harlow-Nash Mass Community Water Watch Organizer for Tufts University.
The clean up is one of many which the Tufts chapter of Water Watch will complete this year - both on the Mystic River and the Alewife Brook. The group organized Sunday's clean up in conjunction with Mystic River Watershed Association.
On Oct. 23, Water Watch will hold its biggest event of the year, the Make a Difference Day Clean Up. At that event the Water Watch campus organizations throughout the state will combine together in a massive clean up along the Charles River. Harlow-Nash hopes to deliver 100 Tufts students for the big clean up less than a month away.
According to the group, Massachusetts water-ways rank among the worst polluted in the country, behind only New Jersey. The group says that 60 percent of Massachusetts water-ways are too polluted for fishing or swimming.
- by Robin Liss<$>
The group hopes to improve the water quality throughout the state by organizing cleanup efforts and trips for student volunteers.
Tufts Water Watch is a division of Water Watch organization which has local chapters on many campuses throughout the state. The Massachusetts chapter is funded by Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG). The group does consumer advocacy work and environmental cleanup projects throughout the state.
