WEST DEPTFORD TWP. — Cross over RiverWinds Golf Course, waving to the deer on your way — it's too cold for golfers — to the edge of the Delaware River and you can't miss it.

There, and for miles stretching along the river coastline in both directions, lies a dense, almost unbroken stream of trash.

There are layers upon layers of plastic and glass bottles, motor oil containers, rusted metal drums, Styrofoam, sports equipment, clothing and a multitude of other items, all washed along the shore over the years, marking the high-tide line among the trees.

“I was out on my boat last month, and it looked like the shore was covered in snow, but it was all trash for miles,” said Tom Zander, a West Deptford resident who found the line of litter while taking his boat out in the river with his son in December. “There’s miles and miles of it — it’s absolutely sinful.”

Zander, 71, a retired fur trapper and avid hunter and boater, described a similar situation around the shore of Little Tinicum Island, which is part of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry.

“It looked like it was covered in snow from a distance,” he said. “I couldn’t believe all of the build-up that has accumulated.”

According to state Department of Environmental Protection spokesmen Larry Ragonese and Lawrence Hajna, the problem of river-borne litter along South Jersey shores is decades-long.

However, apart from aesthetics, they stated that it doesn’t pose much of an environmental concern.

“These issues have been around as long as I can remember,” said Hajna, a Deptford

Tom Zander, a local boater from West Deptford, looks at trash washed up along the banks of the Delaware River near RiverWinds golf course, Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. (Staff Photo by Tim Hawk/South Jersey Times)

Township resident. “There is a lot of runoff from the city and this is a very industrial area, so there is a lot of trash that goes off into the river.”

Ragonese stated that any cleanup would have to be initiated by the local municipal governments, although the DEP would offer assistance if asked.

“I’m not trying to be flippant, but the DEP does not patrol the river and shores looking for litter,” he said. “We try to honor home rule with the local towns.

“There’s really nothing the state would do about a litter problem.”

Still, the DEP spokesmen added that miles of trash lining the Delaware River isn’t something they like to see.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Hajna. “We do try to stress awareness among residents about littering and throwing things in the river.”

For Zander, it’s a matter of people taking local natural resources for granted.

He said some people, either on the shore or in boats, think nothing of discarding their trash in the Delaware.

“When people do it intentionally, it’s really a shame because it doesn’t just go away — it finds itself here and collects over the years,” said Zander. “Something really has to be done about this.”

Contact Jason Laday at 856-845-3300 ext. 228 or jladay@southjerseymedia.com.