On May 19, the Borough of Dunellen held an official ceremony to celebrate the installation of the Bandit Trash Trap in the Green Brook at the end of Jefferson Avenue in Green Brook, NJ. The Bandit Trash Trap, which is the first of its kind in the State of New Jersey, catches any debris and waste that flows through that section of the brook, reducing pollution and increasing cleanup efforts.
“The installation of the Bandit Trash Trap is a testament to the Borough of Dunellen’s collective dedication and hard work to cleaning up our environment and we are grateful for the opportunity to lead the way for future organizations through this pilot program,” said Dunellen Mayor Jason F. Cilento in an official town press release.
The pilot program for the Bandit Trash Trap was made possible through a grant from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service that fully funded the project, in addition to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership, and Borough of Dunellen Business Administrator Alex Miller, who saw the project through from start to finish.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is thrilled to see this project be implemented because it will improve aquatic habitat by way of an innovative method, with this being the first in-stream litter trap in the State of New Jersey. Removing floatable trash will benefit fish and wildlife through plastic and microplastic pollution reduction in the Green Brook and all the way out to Raritan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean,” said Fish & Wildlife Biologist Jillian Stark of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The trap will be maintained by the Borough of Dunellen Department of Public Works with the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership charting all debris cleanup data, and hopefully will result in less refuse making its way into the Raritan Bay and NY Bight waters.
