Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary Clean-Up Project

Since its creation in 1967, and many years before, construction waste, run off from Co-op City and river floatables  from sites north of the Sanctuary have accumulated in the Thomas Pell Sanctuary. The Sanctuary, which is located on the east bank of the Hutchinson River in Pelham Bay Park, is the second largest salt marsh habitat in New York City. (Only Jamaica Bay is larger.) Because the Sanctuary is a salt marsh, it is not accessible by land and must be cleaned up from the Hutchinson River. To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a major cleanup effort, mainly because   of limited access to the Sanctuary (water access only), lack of knowledge by the community of the existence of this Sanctuary and the cost and complexity of a clean-up. In 2010 HRRP launched the first Cleanup effort of the Sanctuary. At that time it was recognized that this was not a single shot effort and it would take many Cleanup efforts to remove "OUR" waste from the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary and return it in its natural beauty to its wildlife residents.

On Sunday, September 18, 2011, a group of 41 volunteers participated in the 2^nd annual cleanup of the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary on the Hutchinson River. As shown on the map, five sites were been selected to be foci of this  Cleanup.  Volunteers  assembled at the Launch Site at 9am and from there proceeded to their assigned clean up site by boat. Eight canoes and two powered boats were used. Some volunteers elected to remain on shore to prepare the site for  recovery of wastes and clean the shores of the launch area.

 

 

        The 2^nd cleanup for the Hutchinson River was again a great success. Hurricane Irene drove in so much extra debris that the 41 volunteers work very hard. Eight canoes and six Urban Park Rangers helped to deliver the volunteers to the 5 sites in the Sanctuary. Three power boats helped to remove the debris from the sites.  The total weight of the debris removed was 1940 pounds, and the number of bags used was 76 of which 35 were recyclable. Of particular interest were 17 tires, 2 car bumpers, 4 grills, 2 industrial size ropes, and 1 grappling hook.