Accomplishments

This list is a summary of the Commission's more recent accomplishments:

2008: Second edition of a pocket-sized Trail Guide was created.
2006: Created new trails around Synnott's Pond and near Dilks' Pond.
2006: Co-sponsored the first annual event now known as the East Coast Vulture Festival.
2005: Released Galerucella beetles into the Mantua Creek marsh to control the growth of invasive purple loosestrife.
2004-2006: Partially restored Synnott's Pond. (See below for details.)
2003-2004: Created this website and started regular e-mail bulletins.
2003: Created a Canoe/Kayak launching area at Hanisey's Landing on Mantua Creek.
2002: Created new trail around the perimeter of Wenonah Lake.
2001-2002: Rebuilt the 1911 Japanese Tea House at Comey's Lake using donated funds and volunteer labor. Cleared the surrounding amphitheater area of brush and debris.
2001: Constructed the wooden Bog Walk along the Monongahela Brook Trail.
2001: Repaired the Glen Dam near West Cedar Street.
2000: First edition of a pocket-sized Trail Guide was created.
2000: Land acquired in vicinity of Synnott's Pond.
2000: Land acquired to complete the Monongahela Brook Trail and create the Glen Trail.
1997: Existing trail system extensively upgraded with new bridges and plantings.
1995: Land at head end of Comey's Lake, including the Japanese Tea House, added to Conservation Lands.

For a more comprehensive history of the Environmental Commission and its predecessor organizations, see our History Gallery.

SYNNOTT'S POND

The pond was formerly located along Camelback Run near the corner of East Elm Street and Woodbury-Glassboro Road. Over the past 35 years, the pond has gradually filled with silt, causing an overgrowth of weeds and trees. As of November 2006, the WEC has completed dredging the area, restoring the pond. This action should also reduce the silt flow which is slowly filling in Comey's Lake downstream.

Although the pond area itself has long been part of the borough-owned Conservation Lands, it was essentially landlocked, complicating any construction efforts. In 2000, with the assistance of the Stewart Estate Trust, the WEC purchased two small lots to connect the pond area to Elm Street.

In late 2004, the WEC was awarded a $15,000 grant by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to pay for some of the labor and materials required to do the dredging. In 2005, stone-filled retaining baskets were placed downstream of the dam and near Woodbury-Glassboro Road to counteract erosion. In 2006, critical state and local permits were acquired. In October, 2006, an excavator removed excess soil in the future pond area. In November, 2006, 300 donated shrubs and trees were planted around the restored banks of the pond, and a walking trail was constructed. The dam gates were then closed, re-filling the pond.

Click on any of these thumbnails to explore the Synnott Pond area:

The pond in its prime, in the mid-1960s.

Looking north from the dam, in May, 2004.

View of the leveling dam in May, 2004.

The pond is adjacent to Woodbury-Glassboro Road.

The completed restoration project in November, 2006.

This 2004 engineering drawing provides a good overview of the entire project.

(See more related pictures
in our Photo Galleries)