Army Corps employees pitch in to clean the Chesapeake Bay

Posted June 10, 2010
By Brittany Brown
Norfolk District Public Affairs

06/10/2010 - PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Employees from the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers answered the call to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Outfitted with sunscreen, bug spray and work gloves, 41 district employees braved a heat index of more than 100 degrees to keep Virginia waterways clean by participating in the 22nd Annual Clean the Bay Day June 5.

Clean the Bay Day is a statewide initiative organized by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, in conjunction with municipalities, businesses and government agencies working together to restore the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. Every year since 1989, thousands of citizens throughout the Commonwealth have dedicated their time to clear litter from waterways.

Norfolk District employees volunteered three hours of their time Saturday morning to remove debris from the shorelines of the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area, or CIDMMA, which is operated and maintained by the district. CIDMMA is a 2,500-acre confined dredged material disposal site on the north side of Portsmouth, Va. It serves as an economical and environmentally sustainable repository for material dredged within the federal waterways of the Hampton Roads harbor.

"I'm excited that we had a record number of employees come out to Craney Island to participate and spruce up the site this year," said Kristen Donofrio, biological scientist here and zone captain for the district's team of volunteers.

According to data collection sheets provided to Donofrio, 9,320 pounds of trash was removed from CIDMMA's shoreline, a majority of which included plastic and Styrofoam items, such as bottles, bags, wrappers, crab pot buoys and miscellaneous nautical debris.

Along with employees on-site at CIDMMA, members of the district's survey and navigation support teams patrolled area waterways using a small skiff and the district's patrol boat HARRELL. These vessels picked up floating debris that could potentially damage vessels in addition to collecting 450 pounds of trash.

Some unusual items found by district employees included a decoy duck, a bra, pizza delivery carrier, expired military identification, credit cards, portable toilet door, bowling ball and a periscope.

The nearly 10,000 pounds of trash collected by Norfolk District is part of the 177,577 pounds collected by 6,100 Virginia volunteers, who were dispersed between 242 sites with one common goal in mind – a cleaner, more wholesome Chesapeake Bay.

"Chesapeake Bay Foundation truly values the great partnership we have with the Corps for Clean the Bay Day," said Christy Everett, director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation office in Hampton Roads. "By cleaning the huge Craney Island site, Army Corps of Engineers staff are doing a tremendous service for the community, while improving the health and appearance of our waterways."