Tweet

Volunteers Help Sweep San Diego Bay Clean

Monday, 30 August 2010
Contact: Dale Frost (619) 686-6461

Nearly 900 volunteers removed more than eight tons of debris and junk from the shores and bottom of San Diego Bay on August 28 during the 20^th annual Operation Clean Sweep.

While shoreside volunteers collected debris that accumulated along the National City waterfront and Paradise Creek Marsh, U.S. Navy Divers and divers from the California Professional Divers Association cleaned the former A-8 anchorage in the southern part of San Diego Bay near the Sweetwater Channel.

U.S. Navy divers captured the Grand Prize in the annual “Most Unusual Trash” competition for dislodging and removing two sunken and damaged sailboats.

Other objects removed included a television with a tape of “The Little Mermaid” still inside the VCR player, a dart board, large barnacle-encrusted tires, and a six-foot-long green stuffed alligator found in Paradise Creek Marsh.

The event is sponsored by the Port of San Diego and organized by the San Diego Port Tenants Association.

Scott Peters, Vice Chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners, thanked the volunteers, the San Diego Port Tenants Association and the businesses that donated boats, cranes and heavy equipment to remove the junk and improve the health and safety of San Diego Bay.

“Environmental concerns cannot be addressed according to jurisdictional boundaries,” said Port Commissioner Lee Burdick. “This event exemplifies how it takes a united effort to make a difference.”