Environmental Commission and volunteers clear stream of debris
By: Vanessa S. Holt
BORDENTOWN CITY If you’ve seen litter collecting in local creeks and streams and have wanted to do something about it, here’s your chance.
Plastic bags hanging from branches, empty bottles or entire shopping carts tossed into the water they’re not just an eyesore, they’re bad for people, plants and animals and the Bordentown City Environmental Commission is getting people together this Saturday to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) with a cleanup of one of the city’s creeks.
"For the last four years we’ve been focusing our efforts on Thorntown Creek," said Mike Hunninghake, chairman of the Environmental Committee. "It’s the one major waterway that’s within the city and we’ve been doing different sections starting at Route 206 and moving downstream each year."
The creek is littered with garbage from the highways and from people dumping over the edge of the slope above the flood plain. Mr. Hunninghake said the commission hopes to put up signs to deter dumping.
The area being cleaned up this weekend is within a portion owned by the nearby Ocean Spray plant on Park Street and is part of what Mr. Hunninghake said could eventually be a trail winding alongside the waterways in the city.
That trail, the proposed Thorntown Creek Greenway, would run from Route 206 near the Barracks Shopping Center to Crosswicks Creek. The city, Ocean Spray, Divine Word Missionaries (also on Park Street) and private property owners own different sections of the land between the two points, but the pieces are gradually falling into place, said Mr. Hunninghake. An easement is already in place on the Divine Word property and easements or outright purchases could be used to secure the rest of the route, he said.
Because the land that would be used for the greenway is within the flood plain it would not otherwise be developable, he said.
Also on the table for future development as open space is a property acquired by Delaware & Raritan Greenway on Blacks Creek along Lime Kiln Alley, an obscure corner of town near Willow Street that includes a PSE&G remediation property (a former coal plant) expected to be turned over to the city soon.
"It’s an odd little corner of town that we’re hoping to transform into a more accessible greenspace," Mr. Hunninghake said. "It’s a very exciting project because it really is right there on the creek. It’s a dynamic little area."
The fourth annual Earth Day stream cleanup will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday. Volunteers can meet at the corner of Spring and Ann streets. Bring sturdy shoes and gloves; garbage bags will be provided. Contact [email protected] for more information. There is no rain date.

