By Mayor Carmen Amato, Berkeley Township
The annual Barnegat Bay Blitz was held this week, with two clean-up sites in Berkeley Township.
A very special “Thank you” to you Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin who joined Mayor Carmen Amato and Councilwoman Sophia Attanasio Papa Gingrich at our Holiday City location to help pick up debris and help beautify the area.
Over in the Good Luck Point section of town, corporate volunteers from Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC volunteered their time today to help clean up the lots that were still littered with debris, mainly left over from Superstorm Sandy.
According to Rachel Host, a Program Specialist with the NJDEP, the Barnegat Bay Blitz, “is a DEP initiative to get people out into the community. There is still garbage in the wetlands that needs to be picked up.”
Berkeley Township Sanitation Director, Mark Vannella stated, “These ongoing clean-up projects are important. In some areas of Good Luck Point, the weeds were overgrown, there are swampy areas, and you just couldn’t see the garbage that floated down the streets due to flooding from Sandy. The Township already pulled out a lot of garbage since Sandy, but the residents really helped out over the last three years and hopefully we’re seeing the last of the garbage.”
The volunteers from Bridgestone even managed to pull out an old Jet ski that sat idle.
The initial clean-up from residents was inspired by Caroline Essington, a friend of one of the Good Luck Point residents. The area and homes were badly damaged from the hurricane and it became an eyesore. The residents were motivated to start pitching in and help one another move wood, garbage and debris from neighbors’ homes.
For the Blitz, Berkeley Township donated garbage bags, gloves, grippers, a garbage truck and lots of man-power to help the Barnegat Bay Blitz volunteers.