THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606070490
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
Thousands of volunteers along the Chesapeake Bay will roll up their sleeves Saturday to collect trash from riverbanks, creeks and beaches as part of the eighth annual Clean the Bay Day.
Since it began in Virginia Beach in 1989, the community cleanup has spread throughout the mid-Atlantic, responsible for the removal of more than 1 million pounds of garbage from 1,250 miles of waterways in several states, according to the Center for Marine Conservation, which keeps event statistics.
Organizers pride themselves on expanding their coverage each year. And this year, the big expansion comes with Tangier Island, a fishing hamlet in the middle of the Bay.
Island residents are expected to team up with prisoners from the Accomack County Jail performing community service to collect coastline garbage ranging from cigarette butts to old tires to abandoned refrigerators.
Planners are not anticipating as big a turnout as last year in South Hampton Roads, mostly because of a scheduling conflict with Harborfest in Norfolk on Saturday.
Robert Dean, a former Virginia Beach city councilman and founder of Clean the Bay Day, said he hopes about 3,000 people participate in one of several planned cleanups throughout the region, including activities as far west as Roanoke and as far north as Delaware.
``I thought we'd get about 6,500 (volunteers), but we're expecting to lose a bunch because of Harborfest,'' Dean said. ``But we're telling people that they can come out in the morning, help out and go to the party afterward.''
The Army Corps of Engineers is lending a barge and crane again this year to help crews clean out a highly polluted section of the Elizabeth River near the Campostella Bridge in Norfolk, Dean said.
In addition, volunteer divers will gather trash underwater at the mouth of Little Creek. And more than 400 people are expected to descend on First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach for a major cleaning, Dean said.
On the Peninsula, cleanups are scheduled at Buckroe Beach in Hampton, at Langley Air Force Base and at Fort Monroe, among other locations, said Laurie Halperin, a program manager at the Center for Marine Conservation.
In all, cleanups are scheduled from the North Carolina line north to Maryland and Delaware and west to the Virginia Blue Ridge.
Since its inception in 1989, Clean the Bay Day has drawn 29,521 volunteers who have collected 1,109,317 pounds of trash from 1,253 miles of waterways, Halperin said. ILLUSTRATION: IF YOU WANT TO HELP
What: Clean the Bay Day
When: Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon
How to volunteer: In South Hampton Roads, call 640-5555, Ext. 4444,
and leave your name, address and phone number. A cleanup coordinator
will call back with an assignment. On the Peninsula, call Laurie
Halperin, 851-6734.
Bay Day headquarters: Sea Breeze Cafe at Little Creek Naval
Amphibious Base.
CLEAN THE BAY DAY: THE DIRTY DOZEN
GRAPHIC
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB