Volunteers Get an Early and Wet Start on Potomac Cleanup

A dozen volunteers from the Water Environment Federation and mosquito and water services firm Clarke braved a wet Friday afternoon to get an early start on Potomac Watershed Cleanup Day.

They spent two hours in a steadily increasing downpour picking up trash and debris along the Oronoco Bay Park shoreline. Cleanup Day officially begins Saturday, Apr. 9.

The annual cleanup event is organized through the Alice Ferguson Foundation, established in 1954 as a Maryland-based nonprofit. Its mission, according to its website, "is to provide experiences that encourage connections between people, the natural environment, farming and the cultural heritage of the Potomac River Watershed, which lead to personal environmental responsibility."

The City of Alexandria is a cosponsor of the cleanup and coordinates its activities through the foundation. This year marks the cleanup's 23rd anniversary. 

The WEF, an association based in Old Town, has been doing an annual volunteer cleanup event for several years now. WEF staffer Jeff Frederick said that the group last year "marked storm drains in the city to let people know what goes into the drains runs into streams like Hooff's Run, and of course eventually reaches the Potomac, Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic."

Jessica Rozek, one the WEF organizers of the event, noted that this kind of work can get frustrating. The trash and debris "all washes downstream," she said. "If we came back out another day it will all be back."  

Frederick agreed, noting that the key was to convince people not to throw trash into the river in the first place. "This needs to be more than just a once-a-year event," he said. 

There are more than 400 sites where volunteers can go to help for Saturday's big cleanup, according to information on the Ferguson Foundation website. All of these sites will be welcoming volunteers tomorrow from 9 a.m. to noon. 

Alexandria is hosting five cleanup sites. Three of them are along Four Mile Run (at 3700 Commonwealth Avenue in Four Mile Run Park; Four Mile Run at Mt. Vernon Ave; and Eaton Square Clubhouse at 801 Four Mile Rd).  City employee Jesse Maines, a senior environmental specialist, said the initiative is expecting more than 100 volunteers just at the Four Mile Run sites. 

Two cleanup sites will also be along Holmes Run (at Tarleton Park and in Ben Brenman Park at Cameron Station).  In addition to debris and trash cleanup, volunteers will also plant trees.  

More information on how to participate in these events is available on the city website at: http://alexandriava.gov/Environment