Originally created Thursday, March 27, 2008
Nearly three tons of junk picked up from riverfront
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The event began at the marina with a short safety brief. As volunteers grabbed plastic bags and gloves they headed out along the shoreline and into the canoes. Another group headed to Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park to work on another beautification project there, the restoration of the historical brick road that runs through the park.
"For the past 10 years, the men and women at NAS Jax have been involved with ensuring that we keep our five miles of shoreline clean. We want to remain good environmental stewards within the Jacksonville community," said NAS Jax Commanding Officer Capt. Jack Scorby Jr. "This is not something we do just once a year, we do our best to keep our base and shoreline clean year round."
AE2 Sean Lanier of Transient Personnel Unit Jax dumps a back of trash that was collected along the shoreline in a trailer to be hauled off.
Department representatives were on hand to guide volunteers through the shoreline by land and sea. There were teams in the brush along the river's edge, canoes skimming trash out of the water and boats for the larger trash items.
"I'm out here today because I want to help out our environment. I plan to pick up trash wherever they need me today. I've participated in a lot of cleanups out in town and think it's important to help keep our planet a clean place to live," said AE2 Sean Lanier of Transient Personnel Unit Jax.
"I'm here today to help clean up the coastline. This really is a great event," added EO3 John DeCarlo of Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202.
Mulberry Cove Marina Manager Phil Collins, left, presents the award for the most unusual piece of trash found to team members from left, GSM2 Daniel Carrasco, AO2 David Whitener and AEC(AW) Tracy Witherspoon of the Naval Waterfront Brig after the clean-up. The group found a lawn cart along the bank and hauled it back in a canoe. They also found numerous old bottles, a snakeskin and part of the underbelly of an alligator. The team received stainless steel water canteens and a trash picker upper for their efforts.
"We have manatees, a large variety of fish and wading birds in these areas. It's important to keep the river and shoreline clean to protect the wildlife," said NAS Jax Assistant Hazardous Waste Manager Billie Brownfield. "We get a huge amount of trash building up on our shorelines due to the currents. Much of it comes off the Buckman Bridge and from the downtown area. By holding these cleanups, it helps keep the trash situation under control."
At the end of the event, a barbeque was held followed by a shore presentation to recognize the winner who found the most unusual item during the clean up. The award was presented to a team of volunteers, GSM2 Daniel Carrasco, AO2 David Whitener and AEC(AW) Tracy Witherspoon of the Naval Waterfront Brig who found an old lawn cart along the shore.
"I think the most usual things we found today was the lawn cart and some of these old bottles including an old glass aspirin bottle. It was awesome out here today. We had beautiful weather and we were cleaning up the environment," said Witherspoon.
Next year's event is already being planned and should be held in March 2009.
NAS Jax Supply Officer Cmdr. Terry Surdyke, left, and Bill Raspet of the NAS Jax Environmental Department push a piece of a dock off the shoreline to be hauled away during the clean up.
NAS Jax Environmental Officer Kevin Gartland asks for volunteers to head to the Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park to help with a clean up project during the morning briefing March 20.
