Merrimack River Cleanup Initiative

Haverhill Shoreline Cleanup with the Crescent Yacht Club

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to really make a difference in the Merrimack River and the Bradford Rail Trail!

More than 40 bags of litter and a dozen large items were collected from the shoreline, river channel, the Bradford Rail Trail, the woodland along the river, under the bridge, and in the foundations along the trail. The cleanup was a huge success thanks to nearly two dozen volunteers who came ready to clean up our environment. The Haverhill Community can't thank you enough!

Thank you to the Crescent Yacht Club for helping to coordinate this event with Haverhill boaters and celebrating the great work with a cookout afterward. We can't wait for next year's cleanup with the CYC!

Save the date for our next Shoreline Cleanup this fall on September 26th at the Merrimack River Park on River St!

Bags of litter and buckets along foundations

Volunteers brining kiddie pool up from river

Pile of collect litter and debris in bags

Great work done by the community!

2025 Merrimack River Shoreline Cleanup

We couldn't have had better weather for our first annual Merrimack River Shoreline Cleanup! Congratulations to all the volunteers for pulling out 2 pickup truck loads (more than 5 cubic yards!) of waste from the shoreline including shopping carts, tires, shoes, a birdhouse, pallet wood, full-size carpets, cones, and so much more. Thank you all so much for your teamwork, grit, and determination to clean up our river. We have so much gratitude for our community's spirit. There was such great energy at the park with the Garden Club volunteers sprucing up the Edible Avenue while volunteers helped to protect our river. A special thanks to Team Haverhill, Starbucks and Heavn'ly Donuts for donating coffee and donuts to kick off our event and to Marianna's Marina for their support. Thank you!

The Regional Effort

Haverhill is partnering with five of our nearby communities along the Merrimack River to improve its water quality and health.

Thanks to funding from the Massachusetts Community Compact Efficiency and Regionalization Grant from the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and support from the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission and the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments, the communities of Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, Tyngsborough, and Andover will each install booms along the river which will be cleaned out once a month as well as a community shoreline cleanup.

The Merrimack River Cleanup Initiative | MVPC

Learn about the regional partnership focused on improving water quality and health of the River.

External web link - https://mvpc.org/merrimack-river-cleanup-initiative/

Keeping the Merrimack River Clean with the Town of Andover and Clean Harbors

Learn about maintaining booms with Andover

The Merrimack: The River at Risk

Learn about the risks the Merrimack River faces and efforts to conserve its future in the documentary, "Merrimack: The River at Risk".