Volunteers Help Clean The Chesapeake Bay

[mamadude]

Thousands of volunteers on the Peninsula and Southside collected more than 128,000 pounds of debris Saturday during Clean the Bay Day, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The figures were preliminary and were expected to rise, said Sharon Smith of the Foundation's Norfolk office.

Smith said approximately 4,200 volunteers covered at least 213 miles of waterway.

Cigarette butts topped the trash list. Neck-and-neck for second place were plastics and foam often the kind of items used for fast food. A huge majority of the trash is washed from roadways into storm drains and then into waterways, Smith said.

Saturday was the 15th annual Clean the Bay Day, an event started by boaters who were concerned about environmental pollution. Volunteers who have cleaned the same sites over a number of years have noted a reduction in debris, Smith said.