SOLV clean up targets more than the beach - Seaside Signal
SEASIDE - The annual Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism (SOLV) fall beach clean up set for Sept. 17 will be expanded to include other natural areas in Seaside.
"So many people come to Seaside for the spring and fall clean ups that there tends to be more people than trash," said Rachael Pecore, SOLV beach and river clean up coordinator. "In fact, Seaside is the most popular site in the entire state for the cleanup. So this year we are working with the Necanicum Watershed Council to move people off the beach to other areas that need attention."
Those areas include the Mill Ponds, the Family Marsh Estuary and along the Necanicum River in Seaside.
"The English Ivy is overrunning the Mill Ponds. It is climbing the trees," said Melyssa Graeper, the Necanicum Watershed Council coordinator.
English Ivy is an invasive species. But Graeper said it is easy to get to in the Ponds and easy to pull.
"If we can get enough people there to help pull the ivy out we can make a dent and it will be a little easier to control," said Graeper.
The estuary clean up will focus on ocean debris that gets caught from storms. Graeper hopes to have 8 to 12 able-bodied volunteers work on that portion of the cleanup.
The Watershed Council is also coordinating the Necancum River cleanup between the Seaside Civic and Convention Center and Goodman Park.
"We will have volunteers working from the guard rail to the river," said Graeper. "But we also need people with boats, or float tubes, that can get right down at the water's edge for this cleanup effort."
In the fall of 2010, approximately 700 people joined forces along the beach in Seaside to pick up 12,000 pounds of debris.
"About 70 percent of that debris comes from inland sources that is on side walks, flushed into gutters by rainfall and washed into rivers and then into the ocean," said Pecore. "Other debris floats in from Russia, Japan, Korea and China."
Volunteers at Seaside's sixth annual Treasure the Beach Cleanup July 5 collected 17,560 pounds of trash.
"They combed Seaside's beaches and streets picking up used fireworks, beverage cans, and abandoned picnic supplies," said Pecore. "These volunteers, kept this trash and debris out of our oceans so it could not harm wildlife. There is less trash in Seaside because there is a strong group of locals and visitors committed to taking care of the beach throughout the year.
Pecore expects that within a few years a wide range of debris will wash ashore on the Oregon coast from the March tsunami in Japan.
"Yes, we will see all sorts of garbage, plastics, wood and other debris from the tsunami," she said. "It is floating toward the Pacific coast now."
If you are interested in volunteering to help with the fall clean up, contact SOLV at (800) 333-7658 or the Necanicum Watershed Council at (503) 717-1458.
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15 Sep, 2011--
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