Mill River CleanUp

The Mill River runs at the base of East Rock Park and travels to connect with the Quinnipiac near the Long Island Sound. Part of East Rock Park is scenic, however people leaving trash everywhere have made it look messy. One local resident has taken matters into her own hands, literally, inviting friends to participate in river clean-ups on a regular basis. No matter how many times it gets cleaned, though, "There's no end to the trash."

On the average clean-up, a garbage bag full of discarded items can easily be filled. Much of the trash comes from the parking lot of Wilbur Cross High School. The rest of it seems to be generated by homeless encampments along the riverside as it nears the highway underpass of Interstate 91 before the tide gate. The camps look abandoned. One tree had bags of poop hanging from its branches. It was speculated those the poop bags never made it into the river. We're not touching those.

The Mill River used to be way more contaminated until factories along its riverbanks were either closed or relocated. Today, one factory, the Eli Whitney Museum, has been converted into an educational facility.