Program aims to keep waterways clean

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Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 104 have taken it upon themselves to help keep Beacon Falls’ waterways clean. CONTRIBUTED
Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 104 have taken it upon themselves to help keep Beacon Falls’ waterways clean. CONTRIBUTED

BEACON FALLS — Beacon Falls’ waterways will get a little bit cleaner thanks to the efforts of Boy Scout Troop 104.

The scouts, led by troop leader Ann O’Dell, recently marked 90 percent of the town’s 874 storm drains with concrete adhesives that read, “No dumping–drains to waterways.”

The former state Department of Environmental Protection, now the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, directed towns to start a storm water management program to raise awareness of pollutants draining into area waterways.

Although the program is not mandated, the Beacon Falls Conservation Commission took it to heart, according to Anita Goerig, a member of the commission.

She said the signs remind people that the stuff going down the drain affects them personally, and they’ll realize the importance of pollution they may cause by dumping in storm drains.

Storm Water Management Chair Joseph Mylen, who has since retired, spearheaded the movement in Beacon Falls, organizing neighborhoods and soliciting volunteers to help with the project. Besides the scouts, other volunteers, including Tanya Guttierro and Laurie Mylen, helped place the markers.

With the Storm Drain Marker program now complete Troop 104 is determined to maintain the Storm Drain Marker program, searching drains with missing markers and reapplying them if necessary.