NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
July 1, 2010
Vol. 40, No. 224
For more information, contact Capt. Aaron Hurd, Fish and Wildlife Enforcement, 302-855-1901, or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
More than 100 volunteers turn out for June 19 Inland Bays Cleanup
More than 100 volunteers – more than double last year’s turnout – headed out on land and by boat at the Sixth Annual Cleanup of the Inland Bays on June 19 to collect trash ranging from plastic bags and shoes to old crab pots and shotgun shells. Two sites were set up as staging areas, one at Massey’s Landing Public Ramp to concentrate on Rehoboth Bay and Indian River Bay and the other at Mulberry Landing Public Ramp to concentrate on Little Assawoman Bay.
At the Massey’s Landing site, eight volunteer boats and five staff boats took 63 volunteers out on cleaning runs along the shoreline and filled a full-sized dumpster about halfway. At the Mulberry Landing site, four volunteer boats and four staff boats took 40 volunteers out to Little Assawoman Bay and filled an 8-yard dumpster.
The greatest numbers of items collected were food-related, including straws, beverage caps and lids, plates and plasticware, to-go boxes and food wrappers, along with a total of 738 beverage containers – cans and glass and plastic bottles. Waterway-related items included 24 abandoned crab pots, 29 buoys or floats, fishing nets, bait containers, fishing line and ropes. Other items included 202 plastic bags, 193 shotgun shells, 26 tires, a kitchen sink, clothing, fencing, buckets, balloons and toys, and smoking-related materials such as lighters, cigarettes and packaging.
Volunteers included personnel from the DNREC Divisions of Fish & Wildlife and Parks and Recreation, the Center for the Inland Bays, and the Association of Fish, Wildlife, & Boating Volunteers. They were served lunch and received commemorative t-shirts after the event.
“We had a very successful day, and we’d like to thank all the volunteers for their hard work as well our donors who helped make the event possible,” said Capt. Aaron Hurd of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement. “Volunteers who had served in previous years agreed that the amount of litter being collected is decreasing. That’s a sign we all like to see.”
The Inland Bays Cleanup was sponsored by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Section, Delaware State Parks, the Center for the Inland Bays and the Delaware Association of Fish, Wildlife & Boating Volunteers. The Dewey Beach Lions Club, Waste Management of Delaware, Suburban Propane and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority donated money, food and equipment including the dumpsters.
Volunteers included personnel from the DNREC Divisions of Fish & Wildlife and Parks and Recreation, the Center for the Inland Bays, the Delaware Association of Fish, Wildlife & Boating Volunteers, Walgreen’s employees, Sussex Community Corrections volunteers, AmeriCorps and many private volunteers from three states. They were served lunch and received commemorative t-shirts after the event.
