Opequon Creek Project Team
Cleaning up trash near our local creeks
Since 2005, thirteen cleanups have been conducted by the Team in the Opequon watershed. The West Virginia Governor's Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP) provides bags, gloves, landfill fees, jon boats, canoes, and trailers to transport trash to the landfill.
Project Benefits: improved recreational experience for the local residents who use the creek to canoe, kayak, wade, and fish.
| August
14, 2010 - Van Metre Stone Bridge to the Shell Farm (a 4-mile stretch
of the creek). Eighteen people participated in the 13th
OCPT cleanup. Our efforts netted 36 tires, 20 bags of assorted
bottles, cans, and miscellaneous small litter. We saw 6 couches
in the water but sadly had no way of lifting the water logged furniture
into our boats. Other items included highway signs, a roll of
fencing, shredded inner tubes, a busted cable spool, computer
equipment, a soaked sleeping bag, a range hood, sheets of plastic,
neatly tied bags of household garbage and much more. Pictures. |
| April
10, 2010 - Banks of the Opequon near Van Metre Stone
Bridge. Twenty-two people showed up on Saturday morning to fill
38 bags with bottles, cans, plastic, cigarette butts, and other
assorted miscellaneous refuse. Seven tires, two Barcaloungers, a
Futon, a pool liner and other loose trash was piled in the corner of
the parking lot for the Department of Highways to remove. Pictures.
|
| September
12, 2009 - Nahkeeta Campground (Route 9) to Van Metre Stone Bridge.
Ten people manned 2 jon boats, 2 canoes, and 2 kayaks and headed
downstream to clean the Opequon of debris. Our efforts have
clearly been realized as we did not pick up nearly the number of
bottles, cans, and other trash as we have in previous cleanups.
We removed .92 tons of trash consisting of 12 bags of assorted bottles,
cans, platics bags, etc.; 24
tires (including a giant heavy equipment tire); 3 steel barrels; 1
wringer washer; a car axel; a brake drum; a ceiling fan; a porch
umbrella; and the most unique item of the day was a Hagerstown Police
Department badge. Pictures |
| April
11, 2009 - Banks of the Opequon near Van Metre Stone Bridge. Fourteen
people
braved the cold, rainy weather and pitched in to clean up the
Opequon near Van Metre Stone Bridge on Golf Course Road. Everyone
worked hard for three solid hours and we collected 49 bags of bottles
cans and assorted miscellaneous trash in addition to 10 tires, 6 deer
carcass and other large items. See the Martinsburg Journal
article regarding this event
.http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/518190.html
Pictures |
| September
13, 2008 - Lewin Farm, Tuscarora Creek. Twelve people
began the day with coffee and donuts on
the Lewin's beautiful, expansive porch overlooking the Tuscarora and
the Lewin farm. Work proceeded and we removed two large log jams
which accounted for numerous truckloads of woody debris, a truck load
of wire fencing and barb wire and several bags of trash. It was a
productive morning. |
| August
16, 2008 - Snider Farm to Lights Ford Bridge. Fourteen
hard-working volunteers turned out to
man kayaks,
canoes and flat-bottomed boats and picked up trash on a mile and a half
stretch of the creek. We had beautiful weather and at the end of
the
morning, all boats were loaded to capacity with trash weighing 1.24
tons and including:
10 bags of assorted bottles, cans, and other small items, a muskrat
trap, an assortment of large metal and plastic pieces, a large tangle
of
bailing wire, a plastic lawn chair, a solid steel sawhorse, a metal
roadside barrel, three wringer washing machines, a wood stove, a truck
bench seat, and 23 tires. Pictures |
| April
12, 2008 - Banks of the Opequon near Van Metre Stone Bridge. Twelve
people pitched in to clean up the
Opequon near Van Metre Stone Bridge on Golf Course Road. Everyone
worked hard for three solid hours and we collected 40 bags of bottles
cans and assorted miscellaneous trash in addition to an air
conditioner, a bench car seat, box spring, rabbit cage, large pool
liner, 5 tires,
4 car shocks, many sq. ft. of carpet, barbed wire, a television,
furniture cushions, car exhaust system, at least six deer carcasses,
and other various items. Pictures |
| September
29, 2007 - Route 9 to Golf Course Road. Twelve people
arrived at the Nahkeeta Campground
at Route 9 to begin a cleanup of the stretch of the Opequon from
the campground to Vanmetre Ford Stone Bridge. The team launched
boats about 9:30 and arrived at Stone Bridge at
1:30PM. We removed .9 tons of trash which included: 23
tires - 6, 50 gal. steel
drums - plastic road barrel -
bicycle - 2 chairs - 2 TV sets - car battery - a car seat and
steering
wheel - a steel stair step - lawn mower engine - steel safe and 13
bags
of collected trash. Pictures |
| July
22, 2007. OCPT joined
its Virginia counterpart at Jim Barnett Park in Winchester to help them
with the Abrams Creek clean up, a tributary of Opequon Creek. |
| July
21, 2007. Golf Course Road to Route 45. Nineteen
people gathered at Vanmetre
Ford Stone Bridge to participate in the Opequon Creek cleanup from the
Bridge to Route 45. Highlights of what was removed from the creek
included 27 tires, 24 bags of assorted bottles, cans, etc.,charcoal
grill, box springs and mattress, 3 lawn mowers, part of a car, carpets,
plastic chairs (2 that matched, found ~1/2 mile apart!),
2 lock boxes, and a T.V. Left on the bank were 2 very large,
heavy
safes, 3 couches and left in the water was a large freezer chest.
Days later members retrieved 25 more tires, a full spool of new half
inch electric cable, the roof of the portajohn we took out last year,
one side of a plastic playhouse, two
road work marker barrels, a record turntable, a fishing pole and 4 full
bags of trash. After we unloaded our collection of trash at
Route 45, many members
continued down the creek by kayak to the Broken Bridge Farm where there
was a barbecue picnic waiting. |
| July 14, 2007: Tuscarora
Creek Cleanup. The Project Team joined
other volunteers to remove trash from the Tuscarora, a tributary of the
Opequon. |
| March 31, 2007: Mill Creek Cleanup. The Project Team
got together
to conduct a clean up of sections of Mill
Creek, a tributary of the Opequon. Ten
people spent three hours along the creek and collected 49 bags of
trash along with an assortment of old tires and other
large trash items. Mill Creek has been identified as the priority
Opequon tributary for pollution reduction and will be the focus of
other Team efforts in the future. |
| CleanUps in 2005-06. Three Opequon
cleanups have been
conducted by
the Team in 2005 – 2006. Over 140 tires and other trash have been
removed from the creek. Pictures |
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