Methuen's Clean River Project gets $30K for Dracut clean up

Aug. 27—METHUEN — The Clean River Project, a non-profit organization on Riverside Drive, received a $30,000 grant this summer from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to fund a series of clean up efforts along the Merrimack River in Dracut.

"We were surprised to receive the full amount," said Kristin Bachmann of the Clean River Project, adding that the organization has not received funding from the town of Dracut and has had to rely on other grants and volunteers. "We've never cleaned Dracut in the 18 years we've been here."

Clean up efforts continue to be vitally important as the river is the source of drinking water for 600,000 residents in the Merrimack Valley.

Thirteen employees from the Andover Companies volunteered to come out on Aug. 10 and pulled one-and-a-half tons of trash from the river.

Bachmann said the next clean up event will be held on Aug. 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will focus on the wetlands off of Beaver Brook Street in Dracut.

"We know that it's heavily polluted, the river is a conveyor belt, there's constantly trash coming down," she said.

A condition of the MET grant requires that the Clean River Project raise another $10,000. Therefore, Bachmann said the organization has partnered with Lazy River Products, which has raised $5,000 and is helping to recruit volunteers for the clean up events.

In addition to the current grant, the Clean River Project has received $95,000 from the MET since fiscal year 2015.

However, the fight is far from over. According to the Merrimack River Watershed Council, more than 820 million gallons of sewage was dumped into the river last year, representing the highest level since 2013.