LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Even with temperatures reaching 99 degrees June 7, more than 180 volunteers from around the base came together to help save the Chesapeake Bay.
The volunteers assembled at Eagle Park to participate in the 20th annual Clean the Bay Day, along Langley's shoreline organized by the 1st Civil Engineer Squadron.
Volunteers picked up trash along Langley's shoreline, which was divided into three zones. One zone stretched from the LaSalle Gate to the King Street Bridge. Another zone covered the shoreline from Bayview Towers to the area previously occupied by the mile long building, and from there to the marina for the third zone.
This year, volunteers collected 1.25 tons of trash from the shoreline during this year's event, less than half from last year's 3 tons, according to Ms. Anhthu Nguyen, 1st CES Pollution Prevention program manager.
During the preliminary survey for the event, Ms. Nguyen said there wasn't as much trash along the shoreline as there was in 2007.
The litter consisted of more than plastic bags, pop cans and cigarette butts. A chainsaw, propane tanks and a partial hunting blind, a cover device for hunters, were some of the unusual items found this year, said Ms. Melody Boshaw, Army Air Force Exchange Service Mini Mall retail manager and seven-time CTBD volunteer.
The importance of the event ranges from local to global.
"The Chesapeake Bay watershed is a large but fragile ecosystem, the home to a great many species of all types," said Lt. Col. Mark Allen, 1st CES squadron commander. "It's also the home to a large number of people, and unfortunately, sometimes the two don't mix very well. A number of years back, detrimental changes were noticed in the Chesapeake Bay, and efforts began to clean up and restore its health. Clean The Bay Day, now in its 20th year, is one part of those efforts to mitigate the human impact by cleaning up after ourselves."
"If everyone did their part, the environment would be a better place everywhere," said Ms. Boshaw.
For Isabelle Ebert, age 9, and her father, Chief Master Sgt. Don Ebert, 1st Aerospace Medicine Squadron flight chief, this was their first time cleaning the bay. Isabelle said she participated in the event "to help clean the world."
According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Web site, nearly 6,000 volunteers removed more than 89 tons of litter and debris in an area that spanned 415 miles during this year's event. To date, more than 87,000 volunteers have removed more than 2,025 tons of debris from 4,255 miles of shoreline and waterways in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The total effort included cleanup sites from Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley to Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore.
"This is part of our continuing effort to remain good stewards to the environment. If anyone would like more information on helping the Chesapeake Bay or the Langley environment, they should contact the 1st CES Environmental Flight," said Colonel Allen.
Hampton Roads is one of the most important ecological regions- yet one of the most threatened in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Web site. At one time, this area had some of the most thriving oyster grounds in the entire Chesapeake Bay. Now, the remaining natural oyster population barely sustains commercial fishery due to overfishing, disease and pollution.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed consists of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New York and Washington, D.C. The Hampton Roads area is located at the southern tip of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the last stop before the Atlantic Ocean. This means all of the pollution, debris and litter from all of the other areas in the watershed pass through the Hampton Roads area.
To find out more ways to clean the bay throughout the year, visit
Hampton Roads on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Web site.