ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARING HOUSE
NEW YORK STATE CANAL CORPORATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, April 22, 2007  

For More Information:   
Patrick Clear, ECOS – (518) 370-4125
Marion Trieste, Canal Corporation – (518) 796-9241

STATEWIDE CLEANUP ACTIVITIES PLANNED ALONG NEW YORK STATE CANAL SYSTEM. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARING HOUSE (ECOS) AND MABEE FARM ANNOUNCE PARTICIPATION IN 2nd ANNUAL CANAL CLEAN SWEEP

(Rotterdam Junction, NY) - As part of this celebration, The Environmental Clearing House (ECOS) and the Mabee Farm hosted an Earth Day celebration at the Mabee Farm Historical Site.  The event included children’s environmental singer Terri Roben, demonstrations on geocaching, candle making, basket weaving, blacksmithing and an introduction to earth awareness.  There were various exhibitors including Saratoga Organics, Mohawk Pathways Girlscouts, American Littoral Society, New York Champion Tree Project and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. 

The Canal Clean Sweep helps to highlight the significance of the Canal System as a recreational and tourism destination in the capital district by encouraging communities, not-for-profit organizations and volunteers to engage in cleanup and beautification activities along the Canal System and the Canalway Trail.   More than 45 communities and trail groups across the New York State Canal System are also participating in the Canal Clean Sweep by hosting local clean up activities in Canal parks, along public promenades and on Canalway Trail segments in their region.

Carmella R. Mantello, Director of the Canal Corporation, said, “The response of communities to the Canal Clean Sweep has been tremendous, with nearly 50 events planned throughout the corridor this year.  This annual event brings hundreds of volunteers together to help spruce up the Canal System, including our parks and trails, and lay out the welcome mat for visitors to canal communities this spring.”

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways: the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.

In preparation for the upcoming 182nd consecutive navigation season on the New York State Canal System, and in recognition of Earth Day 2007, the New York State Canal Corporation is partnering with Parks & Trails NY to sponsor the Second Annual Canal Clean Sweep during the weekend of April 21 and 22, 2007. 

For more information on the Second Annual Canal Clean Sweep, please contact Terry Conway with Parks and Trails NY at (518) 434-1538 or email canalsweep@ptny.org.

For more information regarding events, recreational and vacation opportunities along the Canal System, please visit www.nyscanals.gov or call 1-800-4CANAL4.

The Connecting the Drops Campaign — Connecting the Drops is a public outreach campaign of the New York State Thruway and Canal Corporation (NYSTA/NYSCC). The goal of this outreach is to remind New Yorkers that water connects everyone, and that what is dropped in the environment can reach water bodies and put aquatic life, recreation, and even drinking water at risk. The Connect the Drops effort includes educating NYSTA/NYSCC employees, as well as all the motorists and boaters that use its roads and canals.

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