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2022 Americana Drive Cleanup
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On Veterans Day a group of 27 volunteers turned out to address the chronic problem of dumping and heavy littering along Americana Drive. These were the bravest of the brave, for we had to work through on and off rain from remnants of late-season Hurricane Nicole. Temperatures were mild, though, in the low 70's. As usual, the project was in cooperation with the Fairfax County Restoration Project. We were also supported by Facets, and by The Vistas apartments. We were also pleased to again be joined by Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw. A contingent from Annandale Rotary Club was also out in support. Operation Stream Shield, a Fairfax County work program for shelter residents, makes our task easier by making regular visits to clean along Americana Drive, and a crew of seven was out with us today. Unfortunately, the dumpers and litterbugs are at work 24/7. A Tale of Two Toilets - Finding discarded toilets seems to have become a tradition of our Americana Drive cleanups. We found two today. One, we were able to recover. The other, we located as our time ran out and was in a difficult spot at the bottom of a steep slope. It will have to await our next cleanup. The toilets were just a part of the heaps of construction material heedlessly and illegally dumped all along Americana Drive.
Some of this debris is old. At times, we felt like archeologists peeling back the layers of time and trash to finally reveal the earth beneath. In three hours of work, the volunteers removed 159 bags of trash, 21 tires, and piles of lumber, doors, concrete blocks, and auto parts. Some egregious finds today included five 1.25-gallon containers of used motor oil, which would have eventually leaked their toxic contents into our watershed. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!
Some were empty, but some were full. We prevented at least 6 gallons of used motor oil from contaminating our watershed today.
More photos on Shutterfly
Our Americana Drive cleanups take place twice annually, on Presidents Day and Veterans Day.
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