Thwarted Again!

I was disappointed to read this article by Andy Metzer and Colleen Quinn in the Lowell Sun this morning.  It seems that any hope of eliminating the disparity in our state's bottle bill has been thwarted, yet again.  Does it make sense for the two identical containers pictured above to have the same value when empty?  The legislative members of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy don't think so.  They also seem confused as to the difference between what is a refundable deposit and what is a non-refundable tax.  Is it really that difficult or is it just me?

The container on the left is worth five cents when empty and therefore fewer will end up in the environment.
The container on the right is worth nothing when empty and therefore more will end up in the environment.

Common sense often eludes us.

Concord River - Lowell Rd. to Rt. 225

Skies were rapidly clearing as I launched into the Concord River at Lowell Rd. in Concord this morning.  Thanks to yesterday's rainstorm, water levels were just about ideal.  The photo at left shows the river in the vicinity of Davis Hill.
Once underway, I was soon passing under the Old North Bridge where the only Red Coat seen was this fellow...

These Canada geese had declared today a "Beach Day"...

At Great Meadows Landing a group of school children and their teachers were visiting the river and their visit served to remind me of the fast approaching Riverfest now only 9 days away.   Over the course of the multi-day event, many folks will be celebrating the SuAsCo waters and the Wild and Scenic status they enjoy.

Upon reaching where the river widens and straightens, a lone paddler approached at a rapid rate...

The paddler was Lisa H. paddling her recently acquired custom-built "Mustang Sally".  This racing sea kayak was designed by John Winters and was built by Clear Stream Custom Watercraft of Milan, NH.
Lisa slowed down long enough to let me take a closer look...

The kayak has a white cedar strip-built core with a fiberglass layup and weighs only 35 lbs.  Quite an exotic boat.  More photos can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.301689123249618.71543.301674333251097&type=1

Soon she was back to her training for next month's Blackburn Challenge to be held on the waters of Cape Ann.

At the Route 225 bridge it was noted that shorefishermen are now creating their own trash receptacles...

I wonder who they think is going to haul them away.

Trash revovered from the river today was on the light side.  Only 36 pieces of trash in 4.5 miles of river...

There were 11 recyclable containers (8 redeemable) and 26 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as bait tubs, plastic bags, and styrofoam cups.  YTD = 3301

Bottle Bill Expansion Needs Help

An article in today's Boston Globe by Bob Salsberg entitled "Activists Push for Expanded Mass. Deposit Bill" brought to mind Mark Twain's expression "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated".  In the article, Salsberg informs readers that there is one last hope for expanding the state's container deposit law to include non-carbonated beverage containers.  However, it must be voted on before a deadline expires this Friday.  Proponents claim having solid support from a majority of legislators, polled citizens, civic leaders, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.  The expanded bill should easily pass if allowed to come to a vote.  Therein lies the problem.  A small but powerful group of legislators is turning a deaf ear to the measure's supporters. Instead, they are encouraged by the measure's opponents to prevent such a vote from ever occurring.  Good ole' Massachusetts politics 101 in action.

By visiting the Web site of those opposed to the bill, Real Recycling for Mass.com, one can see who they are and why they oppose expanding the bottle bill.  Some of their points are understandable to me, such as the container redemption process taking too much valuable store space.  I can also agree with their assertion that promoting curbside recycling will go a long way in addressing containers generated by the typical household.  However, they don't offer a viable solution for containers purchased by folks "on the go" so to speak.  That's the hardest part of the puzzle, and expanding the bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverage containers, while not being perfect, will result in an immediate improvement, just as the original bottle bill did in 1983.  Do you remember all those beer and soda cans that magically disappeared?  I sure do.
 
My guess is that all parties would agree that empty plastic beverage containers should not be incinerated, buried, or released into the environment.  The picture above shows the empty containers recovered last week from a less than one mile stretch of river in eastern Massachusetts.  Most likely, those containers didn't come from someone's home, but rather from folks that were out and about.  I think of this stuff as "convenience trash".  However, if there'd been a small monetary bounty on them, they more likely would have been intercepted and redeemed before littering the landscape.  How could anyone not see the benefit in such redemption?

I believe all parties should work together in addressing the issue of "convenience trash".  It can be done.  For example, a redemption program such as the one the state of Maine developed solves some of the issues opponents raise:

•  Stores can refuse to accept containers if they have an agreement with a nearby redemption center.  This is a good idea, and on driving through Maine I've seen numerous redemption centers exist to handle the used containers.  Some enterprising folks have even set kiddie pools by the roadside with a sign saying they'll accept your empty beverage containers.  
• Redemption centers are allowed to have "commingling agreements" with distributers, thus allowing similar containers to be grouped together despite being different brands.
• A handling fee of 4 cents is allowed compared to a paltry 2.25 cents in Massachusetts.  Is it any wonder our state has lost nearly all of its redemption centers?

Maine is showing us "you can get there from here".

To see other aspects of different bottle bills visit www.bottlebill.com.

My sincere hope is that Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Robert DeLeo, will reconsider his opposition to expanding the bottle bill and, instead, work to further improve it.  Please consider letting Speaker DeLeo know of your support for expanding the bottle bill.  His email address is: Robert.DeLeo@mahouse.gov     

Taunton River - Weir Village Park to Dighton Rock

Today I was fortunate in being able to paddle a section of another Massachusetts river designated as Wild & Scenic.  The Taunton River, stretching 40 miles from Bridgewater to Mount Hope Bay, is said to be the longest undammed coastal river in New England.  It is also the principal river in the Wampanoag region and its Native American name, Titicut, means "great river".
In preparation for my visit, a wealth of information tailored to paddlers was found on the  Web site of the Taunton River Watershed Alliance.  I decided to launch at Weir Village Park in Taunton and ride the ebbing tide down to Dighton Rock State Park.  This required getting underway as the sun was just beginning to illuminate the old mill buildings across the river (photo above).
Heading downriver, I passed the Taunton Wastewater Treatment Plant and below that a power generating plant having the largest cooling tower I've seen...

A considerable amount of water was cascading from top to bottom. 

Reaching the confluence with Three Mile River, I paddled up as far as the Route 138 bridge...

In addition to boulders such as the one seen here, I encountered the first of many ospreys and their occupied nests...

A variety of wildlife would be seen today such as a raccoon, belted kingfisher, green heron, blue heron, cormorant, red-winged blackbirds, Canada geese, mallards, mute swan, and red-tailed hawk.  It was the ospreys, however, that dominated the day, especially in the area of Berkley Bridge and Dighton Rock.  They were everywhere...

This boat had two masts and two ospreys...

 This one splashed down but would come up empty taloned...

The fishing must be good to support so many of these "fish hawks".  At times there were as many as 4 circling overhead. 

It was just about 9 am when Dighton Rock State Park was reached...

The namesake boulder is now housed inside the museum building and can be seen by appointment.  The park staff had not arrived yet, so my chance to decipher the ancient petroglyph will have to wait for another visit.  A tablet explains that there are 4 theories currently in play...

In the area of Dighton Rock the river has a salt water feel and look...

Another 8 miles below this point is where the river empties into Mount Hope Bay and the area called Pokanoket by the Wampanoag people.  Pokanoket and, most likely, Titicut were the home waters of Ousamequin (aka Massasoit).  It is probably quite likely that the great sachem paddled these same waters himself on occasion.

However, for me Dighton Rock would be my turnaround point and my trip back upriver commenced.

At a sandy spot along the way, the day's modest trash haul spread out... 

There were 24 recyclable containers (6 redeemable) and 29 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as plastic bags, styrofoam cups, and nip bottles.  YTD = 3265

Today's enjoyable time on the Taunton River left me wanting to experience other sections of this river in the future...

Assabet River - Crow Island and Fort Meadow Br.

After yesterday's constricted paddling around numerous fallen trees, it was nice to get out this morning on some unobstructed sections of the Assabet River in Pompositticut. I launched at Sudbury Road in Stow and paddled downriver to the northeast end of Crow Island (pictured at left).  In addition to the fisherman was a recently expanded mute swan family...

From here I reversed direction and headed upriver to Fort Meadow Brook, where I encountered this large snapper that appeared to be wrestling with himself...

On closer inspection a second turtle was involved in the tussle...

I left them to their primordial affairs and ascended Fort Meadow Brook up to the abandoned Central Mass Railroad trestle, that today acts as a dam...

Spending time in Fort Meadow Brook seems like being in a world apart...

Entering or exiting this realm requires squeezing through the secret portal...

With water levels being on the high side, it's possible to hang a right after passing through the portal and follow a more circuitous route back to the Assabet, making a loop in the process.

The weather today showed very little stability.  Sunny and warm one minute, cloudy, cool, and showery the next.

Trash was pretty much a no-show and that was nice, for a change...

There were 4 recyclable containers and 4 pieces of rubbish.  YTD = 3212

Though this section of the Assabet River is not designated "Wild and Scenic", it is one of my personal favorites...



Nashua River - Bolton Flats

When I launched into the Nashua River at Seven Bridge Rd. (Rt. 117) in Lancaster this morning, I envisioned paddling through wide expanses of marsh-like environment.  After all, the Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area is nearby.  I wasn't expecting to see quite so many trees.  In addition to the vertical ones lining the river banks, there were those that had assumed a horizontal position in or across the river.  Each blowdown had attracted a sizable group of flotsam awaiting the next flood event for a chance to swim downstream...

 
My plan was to travel the river down to Still River Depot Rd. but one too many blowdowns stopped me after only about a mile.  By the time I reached this blowdown stretching all the way across the river, my boat was loaded with more than 100 pieces of trash...

So this became my turnaround point and everything was battened down for the trip back upriver. It arrived back at the takeout looking like this...

The unloading process resulted in this mob scene...

The Nashua seems to maintain a healthy population of one-quart glass beer bottles.

In all there were 92 recyclable containers (2 redeemable) and 60 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish such as a fire extinguisher, sneaker, nip bottles, and empty spray paint cans.  YTD = 3,204

  

The River Assabet Hosts 18-Boat Flotilla

On this day when a 7-mile stretch of the river Thames carried the majestic Diamond Jubilee: 1,000-boat flotilla, the river Assabet, on this side of the pond, made do with a more modest 18-boat flotilla traveling a 6-mile stretch between Acton and Concord.  At left, the procession made up of 19 paddlers and 1 dog visiting from the Rhode Island Canoe and Kayak Association is seen preparing to disembark from the Acton Canoe Launch.  Erik of Open Boat, Moving Water organized and led the trip. Thanks to yesterday's generous rains, the river was flowing fast and a bit festive at a gauge height of 3.1'.
After traveling about a mile downstream, paddlers began "queuing" up for passage through the broken dam at Damonmill...

Everyone took a good look before deciding whether to plunge or portage.  Here the Assabet put a smile on most  paddlers' faces...

With this obstacle conquered, the group next tackled the large blowdown half-way to Pine Street.  This too was surmounted and while paddlers gathered at West Concord for lunch, our boats took a well deserved respite...

Our journey resumed and upon reaching Lowell Road, most continued down the Concord River to the Old North Bridge.  This allowed us to almost match the larger flotilla's 7-mile distance and, fittingly, a British soldier was standing near the bridge to reinforce the connection.
Things were a little loud at the historic bridge as a crew worked at removing debris from a tree possibly toppled during yesterday's storm...

They soon had the path near the Minuteman Statue open again.

A wee bit of trash was grabbed from the Assabet on the way downriver...

There were 12 recyclable containers (3 redeemable) and 9 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish. 
YTD = 3052