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AUBURN — Some 60 volunteers of all ages turned out Saturday to clean up the river during the fourth Annual Androscoggin River cleanup held by the Androscoggin Land Trust.

“We had a great turnout,” said volunteer and board member Kitsie Claxton. Volunteers included the young, the older and all ages in between, she said.

Volunteers were unable to get on the river in kayaks and canoes to pick up trash because the water was too high.

Many who brought kayaks and canoes were disappointed when the fire chief said the river was too fast-running and it was too dangerous to be on the water. The group was hoping to top last year’s record of picking up a ton and a half of trash.

“I don’t know the quantity” picked up Saturday, Claxton said. “My sense is it was probably smaller than last year because we weren’t out on the river.”

But volunteers picked up plenty on the shore, working from Lown Peace Bridge to Longley Bridge on both sides. There was also a group working the David Rancourt Trail preserve behind Tall Pines.

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Litter included debris and lots of old plastic bags and cigarette butts. Plastic bags and cigarette butts decompose very slowly compared to some other waste materials.

Overall, the community has made progress, “recognizing what an amazing resource we have in the river,” Claxton said.

She moved to Auburn in 1978 when the river was badly polluted, but she witnessed how, in recent decades, the river has become cleaner and a bigger draw for people in the community.

“To have the river as a resource with trails and everything, it’s a wonderful thing,” she said. “The land trust is doing our part to maintain it.”

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