In the past year a plethora of junk has been removed from the sensitive Potomac River watershed including a wooden leg, diving board, a coffin, over 1000 tires and more. On April 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., there will be even more refuse pulled from the watershed as the twenty first annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup will send more than 10,000 volunteers into the watershed armed with gloves and trash bags.
The effort is spearheaded by the Alice Ferguson Foundation which will lead the effort at more than 400 sites in the watershed covering parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania.
Last year the annual cleanup day saw more than 12,000 volunteers removing 570,000 pounds of junk and debris from the watershed. The foundation is seeking even more support for the effort this year than last and hopes to break more records for trash removal.
Trash and debris left in the watershed is one of the most detrimental and destructive aspects of human interaction with the sensitive watershed. The effort to clean up the mess is more than just for looks. It is designed to help continue the effort to clean up the river and the Chesapeake watershed, preserve wildlife and habitat and to assist in the effort to restore game fish and crabs to the waterways.
The Alice Ferguson Foundation has been leading the cleanup effort since 1989. The annual cleanup has become the largest of such in the nation. Over the years, the foundation has overseen the removal of more than 3 million pounds of refuse.
In 2005, the foundation created the Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty which commit signers to a trash-free Potomac by 2013. Anyone who would like is welcome to volunteer for this year’s cleanup day by calling Ginny Harris at (301) 292-5665.