WATERBURY, Conn. — Despite the pandemic, a team of teens from Waterbury and Naugatuck suit up each day this Summer -- not for a game but to clean the Naugatuck River.
It is the third year of the Waterbury River Brigade, this year ten students don waders each weekday and get into stretches of the Naugatuck River to go to work.
It is part STEM class and part paid Summer job.
Amari Brantley, a 17-year-old college freshman from Waterbury was accepted into the program and is in the river each day.
“I want to see a better river,” Brantley said, “I want to learn teamwork and how to collaborate with others.”
The River Brigade Program is a part of PAL – The Waterbury Police Activity League.
After helping to take a large truck tire which was dumped in the Mad River (a tributary of the Naugatuck River in Waterbury).
William Daly, 19, said, “I’m young so I have the ability to pick up big tires and I-beams.”
Team of teens get their feet wet in Waterbury to clean the river
Brantley added, “I’m out here to create a free flowing river so generations and generations will be able to come.”
The River Brigade is supported by sponsors like the Waterbury Environmental Health Fund, The Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, Trinity Health and St. Mary’s Hospital.
To find out more about Waterbury PAL, click here.