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Lloyd Neck, Harbor and Caumsett beach crews to assemble Sept. 20
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|  | | By Arlene Gross | | |
August 27, 2008 | 06:20 PM
It's time to go back to the beach in September, not to soak up the rays but to clean up all the garbage left behind.
As part of the Ocean Conservancy's worldwide effort to protect the seashore and its inhabitants, the International Coastal Cleanup entails scouring the beaches for refuse, analyzing data and, in many instances, holding industries accountable when their by-products are found along the seashores.
The Lloyd Harbor cleanup kicks off at 11:30 am on Sept. 20 under Huntington resident Joyce Bank's direction.
Led by William Monahan, the two-mile-long beach at Caumsett State Park will also be cleaned that Saturday. Volunteers meet at the park's entrance at 10 am and get a shuttle to the beach.
Further down the road in Lloyd Neck, Rachel Frankel will lead the Target Rock National Wildlife Refuge's beach cleanup at 2 pm on the same day. She anticipates a crew of about 50, who will meet at the beach, but Frankel said she could also use extra helping hands.
"If there's a scout leader who wants to call me, they don't even have to call me, they can just come," Frankel said. "Anybody can be put to work. If you can walk to the beach, you can make it."
As captain of that West Neck beach cleanup for the past five years, Bank usually gets a crew of 12 to 30 people, depending on everyone's availability.
"It's a great opportunity for families to do something for the environment," she said. "It's a great opportunity for kids to get involved and learn and make a difference."
Many of the kids, she said, like that they can get community service credits for their efforts through their school honors programs. "It's a great learning experience because even though our beaches look clean, when you really start looking and get down and dirty, you find a lot of garbage," she said.
Garbage is collected in teams of three, Bank said, with one person holding the bag, the second picking up the garbage and the third recording the data.
According to the 2007 Cleanup report, the Ocean Conservancy cataloged 7.2 million discarded items worldwide ranging from cigarette butts to fishing lines and plastic bags, all of which pose lethal threats to wildlife. Volunteers found 81 birds, 63 fish, 49 invertebrates, 30 mammals, 11 reptiles and one amphibian entangled in debris.
Across New York, 9,339 people cleared 284 sites last year. The cleanup, which covered 677 miles of coastline, yielded 142,243 pounds of documented trash. The special garbage bags are left at the closest curbside where garbage is regularly picked up.
The 2007 worldwide findings associated 57 percent of the trash — food wrappers, bottles, cups and lids — with shoreline recreational activities; 33 percent with smoking; 6.3 percent with fishing or water activities; 2 percent with dumping, and less than 1 percent with medical and personal hygiene activities.
The state's beach cleanup coordinator, Barbara Cohen of the American Littoral Society, said, "Debris is an eyesore but it can also be dangerous to people and to wildlife." Every year, cleanup volunteers find dangerous syringes, fish hooks, broken bottles and toxic debris, like auto or boat batteries. "By removing trash from the ocean, we are conserving the habitat of countless wildlife," Cohen said.
Of particular harm, she noted, are six-pack holders, fishing line and nets that may entangle animals. Many animals ingest straws, balloons, plastic bags and cigarette butts, mistaking them for food. Cigarette butts can also leak toxins and damage the drinking water when they are washed into aquatic ecosystems.
Though West Neck is not a huge beach, Bank said, "Two years ago, we picked up 850 cigarette butts in one day," within a two-hour span.
By documenting their findings, Cohen said, the Ocean Conservancy can trace large quantities of any item and alert the responsible party to remedy the problem. Most companies are responsive, she said. When syringes and other medical waste were traced back to a medical office in Queens, the organization alerted them to the problem. Cleanup crews haven't found that office's refuse on the shores since then.
With no organized beach cleanups yet for Gold Star Battalion Beach in Huntington or any of the Cold Spring Harbor beaches, Cohen said, "It would be wonderful to have additional locations documented. We are always reaching out for new site leaders."
To join in the efforts or learn more, visit the American Littoral Society at www.alsnyc.org. To join the West Neck group, contact Bank at 239-5812. Contact Monahan at 549-0071 to join the Caumsett cleanup; for the Target Rock cleanup, call Frankel at 549-5216.
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