I passed the commuter parking lot on Bridgeport Ave. just off Rt. 8 at around 12:30 today and saw a group of State of CT DOT employees picking up litter. Hip, hip, hooray. A special “Thank You” goes out to the DOT.

2022 Clean Sweep Awards

Many thanks to everyone involved with Shelton Clean Sweep. Once again, people rolled up their sleeves and worked to beautify their neighborhoods, parks, and school by cleaning up litter. 

Every year the Anti-Litter Committee selects Clean Sweep Volunteer of the Year Awards in three categories: individual, business, and group. It's a tough decision every year. The Committee looks through the clean-ups that were recorded via the online reporting form to see how much various people picked up. Many clean-up projects are not recorded online or reported to us, and therefore could not be considered for an award (sorry!).  Members of the Litter Committee do not qualify, nor do Adopt-a-Street participants (because this is for Clean Sweep).  So here we go: 

Business Category:
Richemont North America

The Business Category was taken by Richemont North America for removing litter from Shelton High School. Nice job!

Individual Category: 
Ellen Cramp

Ellen Cramp once again earned the award in the Individual Category. Ellen picks up litter year-round and also works on our hiking trails. For Clean Sweep 2022, she picked up litter from Coram Road and Oak Valley Trail. Give Ellen a round of applause. 

Group Category:
Olde Ripton Garden Club

The Olde Ripton Garden Club was given the Award in the Group Category. The club picked up litter from the Huntington Green and Ripton Road, continuing their efforts to beautify Shelton. Good work!

Community Engagement Award:
Shelton Clean Up Project

A fourth award was handed out for 2022: A Community Engagement Award to Shelton Clean Up Project. This group started as a pandemic Facebook Group of people who arranged sporadic meeting places to pick up litter throughout the year. The group has evolved and now posts a schedule of upcoming work parties open to the general public. High school students can have their community service forms signed by attended one of their events.  Standing ovation! 

Many thanks to our award winners and to everyone who picked up even just a little bit of litter for Clean Sweep. Many hands make light work. 

Shelton's "Top Ten" List

The Anti-Litter Committee has created a "Top Ten" list of locations in Shelton that have a chronic litter problems: 

1. Indian Well Road, including parking areas
2. Beard Sawmill Road under Route 8
3. Canal Street (north end)
4. Bridgeport Ave. between Commerce Drive and Constitution Blvd. 
5. Pootatuck Place (behind Hilton Garden Inn)
6. Todd Road
7. "Four Corners" (Booth Hill & Mohegan Roads)
8. All Route 8 entrances/exits
9. Mill Street
10. Nells Rock Road between Oak Valley Road and Bridgeport Ave. 

Leavenworth and River Road were saved for later because Committee members had not been able to narrow down which portions were most in need of attention. 

The Committee decided to focus on the top three over the summer. Indian Well Road is particularly problematic after hot summer weekends when the state parks is busy.  Beard Sawmill Road under Route 8 is a location the City was already focusing on. And the north end of Canal Street is scheduled for a cleanup this summer by the "Shelton Clean Up Project" group. 

Four of the Top Ten locations are on state properties (Indian Well Road, Beard-Sawmill under Route 8, Bridgeport Ave, and the Route 8 ramps), which will be more difficult to address.  The City of Shelton cannot implement its Adopt-a-Street Program on State of Connecticut property, and the State has limited staff for cleaning up highways. The State does have its own Adopt-a-Highway Program, but the Anti-Litter Committee reviewed the program over ten years ago and found it to be too onerous to recommend. Perhaps it has been updated. 

Gearing up for 2022

The 15th annual Shelton Clean Sweep will be held April 16-24, 2022 (the week of Earth Day).  As always, bags and gloves will be supplied. Each  year we offer a free iron-on patch to participants, which features a red fox for 2022. The patches are especially popular with Scouting groups. The DontTrashShelton.org website will be updated soon with more information, but you can register a cleanup now using this form. 

Shelton's Clean Sweep program was effectively sidelined for the last two years due to the pandemic, but things are gearing back up for 2022. Although we did run Clean Sweep both years, participation was very low. Connecticut was shut down in April of 2020, cancelling all the scheduled clean-ups, and in early 2021 many Scouting groups were still hesitant to commit to events. Bad weather cancelled the few that were scheduled. We're hoping that 2022 the year Shelton Clean Sweep gets back in gear.

New members needed! The Anti-Litter Committee has not met since early 2020 and during that time lost a few members. We bid farewell to long-time member Ron Pilkowicz, who moved away, and Sheri Dutkanicz, who has work scheduling conflicts. They will be missed. Monthly meetings are expected to resume after the Omicron surge abates, but the Committee is in need of new members. Active members now include Gil Pastore (Chair), David Edgeworth, Joe Welsh, and Teresa Gallagher. If you would like to join the Litter Committee, please send an email to conservation@cityofshelton.org.  Meetings are held the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm in City Hall. 

Join a public cleanup: During the pandemic, a new Facebook Group formed called Shelton Clean Up Project. The group has organized a number of clean-up events open to the general public. The group is not affiliated with the City of Shelton, although we do support their efforts by supplying bags and gloves as needed and hauling away the accumulated trash. The same is true of Housatonic River Clean Up, an event held each spring in Milford, Stratford, Orange, and Shelton. 

2018 Clean Sweep Volunteers of the Year

The City of Shelton announces its 2018 Clean Sweep "Volunteer of the Year" Awards. 

Hundreds of people participated in Shelton's annual Clean Sweep event last April by removing litter from their neighborhood streets, parks, and waterways. All participants were eligible for free custom iron-on patches, which featured the Hope Lake dam in 2018, as well as certificates of appreciation signed by the Mayor. 

Each year, the City also give special recognition to a few of its most active volunteers: 

Individual Category: Lisa Sutton

Lisa Sutton has been picking up litter around Shelton for years. One of the places she often cleans up is the Gristmill Trail area on Mill Street along the Far Mill River.  The two parking areas and the fishing area around the dam are often a mess and she cleans that up. She's also picked up litter from other trailhead parking areas like the one at Eklund Garden at Shelton Lakes,  from church parking lots, and from roadsides. One of Ms Sutton's pet peeves are cigarette butts, which contain plastic and are not biodegradable. 

Group Category: Boy Scout Troop 28

Troop 28 has a tradition of removing large piles of debris from Shelton's Public Open Space, and they did it again in 2018. They chose a location near the Shelton Lakes Community Garden and hiking trails where abandoned junk was scattered along an area filled with thorny brush. The debris included four tires and rims, a hot water tank, a large metal desk, an old toilet, a mattress, aluminum siding, two lawn mowers, two 55-gallon drums, 6 large bags of smaller items, and other debris. Plot holders at the nearby community garden were especially happy to see the junk removed from the woods. 

Business Category: Tighe and Bond

Employees at Tighe and Bond's Shelton office (1000 Bridgeport Ave.) once again cleaned up portions of Isinglass Road and Huntington Street that abut the land around Trap Falls Reservoir. They filled thirty-five large trash bags with litter and removed other items such as car parts and buckets. Tighe and Bond offers engineering and environmental consulting services. 

For more information about Shelton Clean Sweep or it's Adopt-a-Street program, visit DontTrashShelton.org or contact Teresa Gallagher at conservation@cityofshelton.org

Our First Annual Fall Cleanup

The Anti-Litter Committee announces it's first annual fall clean-up to be held at Riverview Park on Saturday, September 30 from 8:30 - 10:30 am. Meet at the playground on the north end of the park, located near the intersection of CT 110 (Howe Ave) and Wheeler Street. (See Google map for driving directions). We will have garbage bags.

Riverview Park. The Bluff Walk is the black dashed line. 

This cleanup is open to all, no registration required. While the Parks Department does pick up the manicured areas you can see from Howe Avenue, there is a wooded slope going down to the river with a walking path called "The Bluff Walk" that was built over 100 years ago. Litter tends to blow in from Rt 110 down the hill and collect along the slope. The trail is about half a mile long.

Shelton's First Park and oldest walking path

We have a few extra 2017 Clean Sweep Patches leftover and these will be given away to participants first come first serve. Hope to see you there.

Clean Sweep 2017

The "Plavec Group" in Huntington Woods

People across Shelton hit the streets, parks, schools, and waterways for the 10th annual Shelton Clean Sweep, held the week of Earth Day (April 22). There were twenty-five registered cleanups around town and many more that were not registered. Many thanks to everyone involved!

Girl Scout Troop 60672 cleaned up Mohegan School

It's hard to believe the first Shelton Clean Sweep was ten years ago, and the 10-year old kids who participated are now adults. We hope the participation of so many kids will foster an appreciation of litter-free parks and streets in future generations.

Tighe & Bond employees cleaned up Isinglass Road.

We encourage people to report their cleanups, although it seems most people would prefer not to. The 'report a clean-up' form is for all litter cleanups across Shelton, not just for Clean Sweep, and helps us determine how much is getting picked up. The link to report is easy to find on the DontTrashShelton.org webpage, on the left margin. Seventeen cleanups involving 122 people were reported via this link during the Clean Sweep 2017 period:

Shelton High Period 2 Civics Class	Shelton High School front area	4 medium sized bags	14
Sheri Dutkanicz	Nells Rock Road	1 large bag	1
Pack 24 - Booth Hill School	Booth Hill School	14 plastic shopping bags	14
GS troop 60672	Mohegan school	1/2 of a large bag	11 7 year olds
The Pastores	Seneca Road	One large bag and a load of Jack Daniels bottles	3
Stusalitus Family	Canfield Drive open space along roadside	1 small tire, 1 ice chest, 3 large bags mostly liquor bottles & fast food trash	3
Girl Scout Troop 60294	Cali Drive	1 large bag and 1 small bag	10
Carreira Family	Regan Circle, Wooster Street	2 large bags	4
Boy Scout Troop 28	Shelton Lakes Path	6 tires, vinyl siding, part of a large tractor, a furnace, 2 air conditioners, a car transmission, front and back seat of an old car, 10 additional bags of garbage	24
Plavec Group	Balsam Circle, Wesley Drive and Shelton Rec Path Parallel	One large 42 gal trash bag	3
Tighe & Bond	Isinglass Road at the intersection of Huntington Street	15 Large Bags, tire, car parts	4
Gil Pastore	Farmill River from Yutaka Trail to Farmill Crossing	4 large bags & beach ball	3
MOMS Club of Shelton	Riverview Park, surrounding play area.	3 large bags	5
Mikayla Wsilewski/Janie Hulton	Wabuda. Rt108	4 large bags	2
Daisy Troop 60396	Shelton High School	10 bags- filled as much as a Daisy could carry! :) (about 1/2 filled)	18
Devin Mitola	Sunnyside Elementary	1 large garbage bag	2
Fernando Alves	Area around interesection of Meadow Street and Shelton Avenue	2 large bags	1

Old Wrestling Platform and Tires -- So Many Tires

Work in progress.  So many tires.

There was an impressive old wrestling platform in the open space off of Pine Tree Hill and Beech Tree Hill Road, covered in vines and vegetation, and resting on a mountain of stacked tires. It was on our wishlist for cleanup for several years before Chris Vickers rose to the challenge. In addition to being unsightly during winter months, the tires were breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

BEFORE

AFTER - WOW!

Chris had to clear the vegetation, cut the platform up with a chainsaw, and took about 100 tires to the transfer station. But there are still more tires to haul out, and Chris is looking for help to get the job finished. Calling all Scouts! If there are any troop out there willing to help, please contact Teresa at conservation@cityofshelton.org.

2016 Clean Sweep Awards

Congratulations to our 2016 Volunteer of the Year awards! We have three categories: business, organization, and individual. This year we have two local businesses that worked together on a project and each gets an award.  Our winners are selected from those who have submitted cleanup reports via our online reporting form at DontTrashShelton.org, and exclude Adopt-a-Street participants and members of the Anti-Litter Committee.

Volunteer of the Year: Business Category
Mica-Corporation and Electri-Cable Assemblies (ECA)
For cleaning up Mountain View Drive and Ivy Brook Lane by removing 55 bags of litter along with two tires, license plates, an engine, and clothing. (Click awards to enlarge).

Volunteer of the Year: Organization Category
Boy Scout Troop 28
For hauling a pile of garbage up the the bottom of a cliff in the Shelton Lakes Greenway, including 3000 lbs of metal (a car), 45 tires, and fifteen bags of garbage.

Volunteer of the Year: Individual Category
Austin Foley
For collecting twelve bags of litter from East Village Park.

Congratulations! 

Litter Definition Expanded

On November 12, 2015, Shelton's Board of Aldermen adopted an amendment to the City Ordinances which expands the definition of litter to include advertising materials. Litter now specifically includes telephone books, books, and advertising materials. Previously it was a more of a gray area in the ordinance, open to interpretation. 

Besides phone books, other items that get thrown in people's driveways and lawns include little baggies that contain a business card and few rocks to weigh it down. No one wants these. No one wants to have to pick them up. Also litter: pamphlets, brochures, fake religious plastic gold coins thrown all over the street. 

Business card in baggie with rocks thrown from car. This is littering. 

Reference Ordinance: Chapter 7 Article I Section 7-9 Littering or Dumping Prohibited. Amendment approved unanimously November 12, 2015. Public Hearing took place October 27, 2015. 

The Battle of Pearmain

Pearmain Road at the gas pipeline after the cleanup (click photo to enlarge)

Pearmain Road is one of the White Hill's more interesting streets, linking Birdseye Road to Saw Mill City Road.  Traveling west from Birdseye Road, Pearmain is a narrow, paved street lined with farmland and homes. But the pavement ends, and that's where the trouble begins.  A few hundred yards of easily-traveled dirt road leads to a Iroquois Gas Pipeline facility and a turn-around of sorts (see location on Google Maps). Past that point, the road is in such poor shape that it's become a challenge course for young people with 4WD trucks and a popular route for ATVs (note: the trucks are legal on this road, but the ATVs are not). 

People have been dumping and partying here for years. A video from 2006 was taken by the new conservation agent after receiving a complaint about a pile of tires where the gas pipeline crosses Pearmain Road. The location can be reached by hiking south from the Land Trust's Nicholdale Farm property off of Rt 110 (location of a Scout camp).

The area was then cleaned up, and Iroquois installed a heavy gate across Pearmain Road where the pavement ends. Sadly, the heavy chain locking the gate was cut, repeatedly. Everyone finally just gave up trying to keep it locked and the dumping continued.

The issue came to the forefront again in the fall of 2014 while the Trails Committee was building an official connector trail from the Land Trust's Scout camp out to Pearmain Road. The new trailhead came out onto Pearmain Road only a few feet from piles of trash. Committee members took apart an old picnic table that had been dumped and used the lumber for a trail bridge. Most concerning were the campfire remains found directly over the gas pipeline. Kids were playing with fire right on top of a huge natural gas line!  This lent a sense of urgency to the issue.

A real mess

After conferring with various city departments, the Conservation Agent researched better ways to lock the existing gate and installed security cameras. Some chains appear to be much stronger than others.   Justino's Landscaping then rose to the challenge, hauling out a mountain of trash. The Police Department reviewed the area and now makes a point to check the gate routinely: If the gate is suddenly found open on a Saturday night, there is probably a party going on.  

Garbage removed, but landscaping debris is unsightly. 

After the trash was hauled out, there was still a lot of unsightly landscaping debris that had been dumped, including many large, rotting logs.  The Police noted that the logs were an invitation for kids who wanted to start a fire, and recommended the wood be removed. Highways & Bridges then sent in a crew to remove the landscaping debris, finishing up by spreading woodchips. 

Much better!

The road is still technically open to registered vehicles. Although they can't pass through the gate, it's legal to drive in from Saw Mill City Road if you have a truck capable of handling the rough road. The point of the gate was to stop people coming in the easy way with loads of debris they want to dump as well as teenagers driving in by car to attend a party. The gate seems to be accomplishing that so far.

In conclusion, it has taken the efforts of a lot of people to get this dumpsite cleaned up, and to keep it secure from future dumping, but where there is a will, there is a way. Many thanks to the following:

Iroquois Gas Company

Justino's Landscaping

Shelton Highways & Bridges

Shelton Police Department

Clean Sweep 2015 - Another Success

"Lia and her team of turkeys" off Birdseye Road

Shelton Clean Sweep was another great success this year. Many thanks to everyone involved! We had 45 clean-up events registered online, and there are always many other cleanups that no one tells us about (perhaps the majority). The total reported cleanups involved 275 people who removed 250 large bags of litter as well as many other large items like old swing sets, tires, and even an old car. This does not include the Housatonic River Cleanup, in which maybe 100 people filled up a couple of large dumpsters.  

Results reported via the online Cleanup Reporting Form for the month of April: 

Jones Farm  - Walnut Tree Hill Road - 7 bags
Karen Sobbell & Family - Mohegan Road - 6 bags
Ingrid Waters - Long Hill Cross - 5 bags

Karen Sobbel, Mohegan Rd

Toni Pensiero - Constitution Blvd - 8 bags
Lia's Team of Turkeys - Corner of Rt 110 and Birdseye - 4 bags
Sheri Dutkanicz - Meadow St - 5 bags
Terrance Gallagher - Mill Street - 7 bags
Farmill River Association - Far Mill River - 8 bags and 2 boxes
Well Spring Estates - Old Stratford Rd, Farmill Crossing - 15 bags
Ellen Cramp - Coram Rd - 1 bag
Stusalitus Family - Canfield Drive - 2 bags
EDR - Armstrong Road - 5 bags
One Hour Heating - School St & Monroe Rd - 12 bags
Mica Corporation - Ivy Brook, Mountain View Roads - 6 bags
ECA - Mountain View, Ivy Brook - 31 bags & lawnmower
George Waters - Shelton Canal - 5 bags and large items
Boy Scouts Troop 55 - Shelton High - 7 bags
Sheri Dutkanicz - Birchbank Mtn Trail; Long Hill Ext. - 1 bag
Girl Scout Troop 63140 - Capewell Park - 3 1/2 bags
Eva Washenko - Petremont Street - 5 bags
St. Joseph  Group - South Bank - 3 bags & a tire
Nancy Dickal  - Kneen Street - 8 bags
Roller Family - Rocky Rest Road - 2 large bags
Karen S. - Mohegan  Road - 12 bags
Country Club Village - Means Brook - 25 bags and many large items
Boy Scout Troop 28 - Far Mill River; Rt 108 - 15 bags, 2 swingsets, an old truck
Girl Scout Troop 60394 - Nells Rock Reservoir - 4 bags
Belden Family - Kneen/Long Hill Ave/Const. Blvd - 1 bag
Girl Scout Troop 60062 - Perry Hill School - 5 bags
Cub Scout Pack 20 - Sunnyside School - 20 bags
RND Landscaping - East Village Rd - 4 bags, bumper, drawer
Karen S - Ripton Road - 2 bags
Gil Pastore - Far Mill River - 2 bags, 2 tires, and a tarp
United Methodist Church - Todd Road - 4 bags
Gil Pastore - Mill Street - 2 bags
Pack 27 - East Village Park - 10 bags and a tire
GS Troops 60778 & 60443 - SHS and SIS - 1 bag
Ron and Preston - Mill Street - 5 bags

Many volunteers don't report their cleanups, so the above is just a fraction of the litter that was actually removed.  We are still working to persuade people to record their cleanups. An estimate of the total number of volunteers involved throughout Shelton is 500 people. 

Housatonic River Cleanup -
One of the filled dumpsters at Sunnyside Boat Launch

Kenny Bagdasarian
Constitution Blvd

The biggest single cleanup is always the Housatonic River Cleanup, which stages at Sunnyside Boat Launch. This year was no exception, even though the group had to contend with some rowing races being held on the river at the same time as the cleanup. The debris was even sorted for better disposal. Great job! The group posts lots of great photos on their Facebook Page.


This year we saw a big uptick in the number of High School students seeking to work independently picking up litter to earn Community Service hours. Shelton High requires ten hours per year, and the deadline is May 1. We have a webpage that explains exactly how to earn hours by picking up litter. In order to receive credit, students need to carefully document exactly when, where, and how much they cleaned up, and also submit photos. Students can also earn their hours by helping out with the Housatonic River Cleanup, but some students prefer to work independently in their own neighborhood, sometimes for the best scheduling flexibility.

We seem to have a drop in the number of Scouts participating and would like to know why that is. It does seem harder to get word out to all the Scouting groups in advance. And we no longer hold the recognition event where certificates are handed out with the Mayor. Is that a factor? We miss all those Scouting photos.  But we did get some photos from others. Great job, everyone!

MICA - Ivy Brook Road

One Hour Heating and Cooling - School Street

Troop 28 - Far Mill River near Gristmill Lane

Residents of Well Spring Estates - Old Stratford Road

Cleanup by George Waters, Shelton Canal

Looking for a Clean-up Event to Join?

Looking to join a group of people cleaning up Shelton?  Here are three opportunities happening Saturday, April 25, 2015:

1. Housatonic River Cleanup, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Sunnyside Boat Launch. This is a good event for high school students needing community service hours because their form can be signed on the spot (be sure to bring a form!).  This annual event is sponsored by Housatonic River Cleanup Inc. and is always the biggest cleanup in Shelton. Click HERE to view the flyer.

2. Shelton Land Trust Cleanup, 2:00 pm, Nicholdale Farm parking area (next to #322 Leavenworth Road/Rt 110).  Land Trust volunteers will be cleanup up litter along the Rt 110 frontage. That includes an old cow tunnel!  Note: The Shelton Land Trust is a private, non-profit organization that owns about 370 acres of open space.

3. Center Street, downtown Shelton, 9:00 - 10:30 am, sponsored by State reps Ben McGorty and Jason Perillo. Click HERE for more info.

Unsecured Loads

This open flatbed loaded with scrap cardboard pulled out of Walmart recently.

Not all litter is intentional. "Inadvertent litter" can make up a substantial percentage of roadway litter. For example, trash that's not secure can spill over roadways, although there seems to be a lot less of that source since Shelton switched to new garbage cans.  One very common source of inadvertent litter is unsecured loads. Most people have had the experience of a piece of paper or a bag unexpectedly blowing out of their car after the windows are rolled down.  

Most people have also been behind a commercial vehicle from which waste materials were flying out and landing all over the road. I have seen this repeatedly along Bridgeport Avenue, with each truck turning to get on Route 8, where I assume even more litter was created. These loads were not properly secured. The photo above shows a load of baled cardboard on an open flatbed coming out of Walmart. Pieces of the cardboard were blowing around and breaking off in the wind, which is predictable. This type of load should be carried in an enclosed container. It may be cheaper for the businesses involved to transport in this open top flatbed, but taxpayers are then stuck paying for state workers to pick up the litter. 

The photo below is another common scenario: a roll-off container with an open top from which materials can blow out. Sometimes there is a tarp over the top, but the wind easily gets under the top unless it's very tightly secured with no air gaps and pulls light materials out onto the street. Again, taxpayers foot the bill for picking up the garbage on this state highway. 

Papers were blowing out of this roll-off container last April.

More concerning are scattered biowastes that have been found spilled along Bridgeport Ave, and well as medical records that should be private.

Businesses are responsible for ensure their wastes are being handled properly by contractors, and not just hiring the lowest bidder. Ask to see the truck before it leaves the premises...does it look secure? Waste haulers are responsible for complying with state law and securing their loads. And the state and local police are responsible for stopping and ticketing drivers when loads have not been secured.