Tribute to Bob DeVita
Passaic River Restoration Program

Sandy Huber
Executive Director

New Jersey Clean Communities, the state’s only broad-based comprehensive litter abatement program, is about people – the people who put trash on the ground and those who pick it up. 

Thousands of volunteers are picking litter up this fall. They are wearing tee shirts and caps imprinted with the words Slam Dunk the Junk, part of a campaign launched by the Clean Communities Council to reduce litter. These volunteers clear roadways, remove debris from vacant lots, and skim trash from waterways.

Skimming trash from waterways in northern New Jersey is a team of men who work for the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioner’s Passaic River Restoration Program. Since its inception in 1998, these “worker bees” have pulled 7,000 tons of debris from the once infested Passaic River. It’s amazing to watch them lift tree trunks and branches from the water and skim plastic bottles, cans and anything else that washes down a storm drain and into the water. They love the river. They know the water. They touch it. They feel it. They say it’s cleaner now.

Slam Dunk Partner - Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
River Restoration Program

Through the river restoration program, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners partners with towns in a district covering 48 municipalities. Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners was one of the original partners when Newark’s Gateway Cleanup was first organized in 2003. For several years, the team won the coveted golden broom awards for clearing as many as 100 bags of debris in only a few hours from Newark’s county parks and waterways. They also help with urban cleanups in other towns such as Paterson, Garfield, East Orange and Hackensack. The educational component of the program reaches thousands of students with information about the river. These are guys who really slam dunk junk.

I wrote this as a tribute to the team leader, Bob DeVita. He organized the river restoration program, and provided the leadership, commitment and passion that makes it work. Bob passed away on September 23, 2009. Now, he is one with the river but his passing is a loss to all the people he touched.

In memory of Bob and to support all the volunteers throughout New Jersey who participate in cleanups, I’m asking people to join the team for clean and green. Make a pledge at njclean.org and help New Jersey Clean Communities Slam Dunk the Junk.