THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220257
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 41 lines
Residents' calls for the city to clean up a debris-strewn Ocean View beach have not fallen on deaf ears. Officials said Monday they have been trying to take care of the situation since last week.
Betty Webb, assistant director of recreation, parks and general services, said city lawyers and clean-up crews have been working in tandem daily to clear away what remains of a mobile home and a pontoon barge that ran aground.
``Beach crews have been keeping the beaches clean so that any debris will not be a hazard to citizens,'' Webb said Monday. ``We're definitely trying to get all angles and bases covered. . . .
``We are interested in the clean-up as much as the citizens.''
It all started Oct. 10, as the mobile home being moved by a barge nearly sank off Ocean View Beach when the barge ran aground. It was towed closer to shore to get it out of shipping lanes; then the house was reduced to rubble by a wind-whipped storm Friday night.
The result was a neighborhood beach strewn with wreckage, much of it laced with long, rusting nails.
Beach strollers, who likened the beach to a hazard zone, took the city to task for not cleaning it up.
Webb said the city began calling salvage companies last week, after the barge was left. But none of them could remove the mobile home before the storm, citing reasons such as time constraints and paperwork, she said.
That, she said Monday, means continuing to contact salvage companies.
The debris on the beach and in the water will be cleaned up as soon as possible, Webb said.
``We have to find someone who can get out there and do it,'' she said.
Several people - Webb said she didn't know how many - have called and demanded that the city take action to clean up the mess.
``We hope to get this resolved,'' she said. ``We're going to take constructive action.''
KEYWORDS: OCEAN VIEW BEACH MOBILE HOME DEBRIS by CNB