
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 8, 1994                   TAG: 9409090037
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SHORES YIELD 7.3 MILLION PIECES OF TRASH

Volunteers scouring 4,500 miles of shoreline collected 7.3 million pieces of trash in three hours, illustrating that beaches and waterways continue to be polluted despite the heightened concern about protecting the environment.

A report Wednesday by the Center for Marine Conservation, based on items collected by 158,000 volunteers, said a broad array of debris - from empty soda cans to medical syringes - litters coastal America and the shores of its rivers and lakes.

Among the items collected in the cleanup campaign: 1.7 million cigarette butts, 344,502 pieces of glass, 203,330 straws, 333,996 bottles, 210,553 cans, 134,547 cups, 40,508 balloons, 30,326 light bulbs and fluorescent tubes, 10,166 syringes, 55,470 plastic trash bags and 6,636 condoms.

A volunteer in Louisiana found a $2 lottery ticket, and another one in Texas discovered a 5-pound bag of cocaine labeled ``radioactive.'' A skeleton turned up on a Mississippi shoreline. Volunteers found everything from stripped vehicles to abandoned shopping carts.

The cleanup crews covered ocean beaches and inland shorelines in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands at various times last September and October. Each search lasted three hours.

The problem, the study emphasized, is not only evident along the country's ocean beaches, but also along inland lakes, rivers and streams and sometimes under the water.

by CNB