Ralph Northam, governor, helps volunteers clean the bay in his backyard

Carol Vaughn
The Daily Times
Gov. Ralph Northam picks up trash along Cape Charles Harbor during a Clean the Bay event in Cape Charles, Virginia on Saturday, June 2, 2018.

Gov. Ralph Northam and more than 70 other volunteers, including top Chesapeake Bay Foundation officials and local elected officials, helped pick up trash along the last un-bulkheaded portion of Cape Charles Harbor during the 30th annual Clean the Bay Day on Saturday.

"For 30 years, people have been coming out on this first Saturday in June to clean up trash, and right now, more than 6,000 people all over Virginia ... are picking up trash along the waterways," said Will Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation president.

Baker noted that since 1989, volunteers have picked up more than 6.5 million pounds of trash along more than 7,300 miles of shoreline — "270 garbage trucks full of trash that would have been in the water had it not been picked up," Baker said.

The annual event, in addition to ridding waterways of trash, also draws attention to the problem of polluted runoff, he said.

Participation in the event "shows that Virginians care about clean water; they are determined to fight for clean water — and the General Assembly and our governor see it that way, too," Baker said.

Baker noted the Virginia budget the General Assembly recently approved includes money "to reduce polluted runoff from farms, cities and suburbs" and also, for the first time, money for oyster restoration.

"This kind of dedication is just what we need to meet our 2025 goals for a truly clean Chesapeake Bay," Baker said.

"This is so important," Northam said, noting "The Chesapeake Bay was literally my backyard, growing up."

Northam told his fellow volunteers, "one of the reasons I got into this business of politics or policy making was because I watch, with all of you, the detriment of the Chespeake Bay over the years, and we need to do everything we can to turn that around."

Northam said that while good progress is being made in that direction, "we're not there yet — and so we're out here today, not just to pick up some trash, but also to educate people (about) the importance of this Chesapeake Bay, what a treasure it is for Virginia."

He spoke about the importance of the bay's health to the economy, including to watermen, the aquaculture industry, tourism and more.

"We've got to restore the health of the bay," he said.

Gov. Ralph Northam, far right, chats with Chad Ballard, middle, and Clyde Cristman before the start of a Clean the Bay Day event in Cape Charles, Virginia on Saturday, June 2, 2018.

The area volunteers cleaned in Cape Charles is critical to ensuring water quality is protected. "That land and the vegetation running up to it serve as a critical natural filter,"  said Jay Ford, Virginia Voices Outreach Coordinator.

Additional volunteers were hard at work at the same time in several additional Eastern Shore of Virginia waterfront locations, including Oyster, Onancock, Kiptopeke State Park and Guard Shore.

By the end of the day, 33,000 pounds of debris had been removed from the Cape Charles site alone, according to Ford.

Statewide, around 6,000 volunteers at over 250 sites removed a reported 128,817 pounds of litter and debris over an estimated 312 miles of shoreline, according to a press release.

Volunteers pick up trash along Cape Charles Harbor during a Clean the Bay event in Cape Charles, Virginia on Saturday, June 2, 2018.

The most common items volunteers found during the cleanup were plastic and glass bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags and cigarette butts, but they also recovered many larger harmful items, such as appliances, car parts, tires, and more

Among the stranger items found along the state's rivers and streams were an ultrasound picture, shopping carts, washing machines and a headless mannequin, the release said.

Among the thousands of volunteers were elected officials, including Northam, Virginia First Lady Pam Northam, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Matt Strickler, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Director Clyde Cristman, Rep. Rob Wittman, Sen. Lynwood Lewis, and Delegates Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Cliff Hayes, Rip Sullivan and Cheryl Turpin.

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