Volunteers Give Ocean City Beaches a Clean Sweep

Thousands of volunteers hit the beaches on Saturday morning to participate in Clean Ocean Action's (COA) 28th annual Spring Beach Sweeps at more than 65 sites along the Jersey Shore.

Ocean City saw many more groups and individuals than usual, according to Public Works Director Mike Rossbach. But a specific tally was not yet available as of Saturday morning.

Dozens of local Comcast employees and their children, friends and families volunteered as part of their 12th annual Comcast Cares Day. They worked near Fifth Street to clean beaches then plant dune grass with the assistance of the city's Environmental Commission members.

Across the rest of Ocean City, volunteers removed and catalogued each piece of debris to document ongoing pollution issues, making Beach Sweeps the first tally of debris since Superstorm Sandy.  

This year, Beach Sweeps has been folded into Clean Ocean Action’s Wave of Action For The Shore program, a monthly volunteer initiative started in December 2012 to help the people, businesses, habitats and waterways of New York and New Jersey affected by Superstorm Sandy.  Beach Sweeps will be the first Wave of Action where data will be collected, a vital addition which will help inform citizens and elected officials of pollution problems after Superstorm Sandy.

“This is the first event where we will be collecting data from clean-up activities since Superstorm Sandy," said Clean Ocean Action Executive Director Cindy Zipf. 

The data collected today will be combined with data collected at the Fall Beach Sweep in October, and then analyzed and presented in an annual report. These annual reports identify pollution problems, educate citizens on the types and quantities of debris, aid legislators in passing and enforcing laws to protect the marine environment, and contribute to local and international efforts to combat marine pollution.  Clean Ocean Action released the 2012 Annual Beach Sweep Report last week (available at www.cleanoceanaction.org).