Lake Hopatcong Cleanup Volunteers Wanted

In conjunction with the five-year 60-inch drawdown, the Lake Hopatcong Foundation is coordinating a lake-wide community clean-up effort of areas that can be accessed during the lower lake level. This is a collaborative effort that includes the four municipalities (Hopatcong, Jefferson, Mt. Arlington, and Roxbury), Morris and Sussex counties, the Morris County Park Commission, Hopatcong State Park, and the Musconetcong Watershed Association.

The clean-up will be held, rain or shine, on Nov. 9, 2013, from 8 a.m. to noon (In the event of an extreme weather event, such as a hurricane or blizzard, the clean-up will be postponed one week to Nov. 16.)

The effort will be conducted only along the perimeter of the lake bottom and not on any streets. The LHF is seeking permission to gain lake access from at least 30 lakefront locations, and are looking for 5 to 10 volunteers and a team captain for each of the 30+ access points. If you are interested in volunteering or being a team captain, sign up here.

Lakefront property owners are encouraged to put together a team to participate in the cleanup. If your school, civic group, business, or other organization is interested in participating or if you have a lakefront property that can serve as an access point for the cleanup, contact Donna Macalle-Holly at donna@lakehopatcongfoundation.org or by calling the LHF office at 973-663-2500. 

As part of the community cleanup of Lake Hopatcong, the Lake Hopatcong Foundation is working with municipal Departments of Public Works to arrange for removal of lake debris stuck in the lake bottom, which can be accessed from the shoreline during the 5-foot drawdown. The LHF website has a form for residents to report any such debris, which will be submitted to the respective DPW for removal.   

More details will be available for lakefront property owners to dispose of lake debris only, not vegetative waste, in dumpsters at select locations in the lake municipalities.