[Archived] City of Alexandria Needs Volunteers For 18th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	March 24, 2006 PIO# 069-06/rdo	Steven J. Mason, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria Needs Volunteers
For 18th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup
Volunteers Will Join Others in Cleaning Up
Local Streams, Potomac River, and Chesapeake Bay

The City of Alexandria needs volunteers to participate in the 18th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup and join others across the region in cleaning up local streams, the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay. The cleanup will take place from 9 am to noon on Saturday, April 8, at more than 300 sites in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. There will be several cleanup sites in Alexandria.

Trash and litter create many negative effects on the quality of life:

C It harms wildlife,
C decreases property values,
C costs local governments needed funds for cleanup and removal, and
C is a public health threat by increasing breeding grounds for virus carrying insects and rodents.

Within three hours, individuals can help make a difference in their community.

Trash bags will be provided. Volunteers should bring gloves and wear shoes and clothes that they don’t mind getting wet or dirty.

The theme for this year’s cleanup is “Take Pride in Our Potomac: It Starts in Your Backyard! Trash Free by 2013.” Last year, volunteers removed over 217 tons of trash from regional streams.

For more information on the 18th Annual Potomac Watershed Cleanup or to find a local site and volunteer, call Diana Handy of the City’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services at 703.519.3400, extension 166, or e-mail diana.handy@alexandriava.gov. For additional information on the cleanup, call the Alice Ferguson Foundation at 301.292.5665, or visit PotomacCleanup.org.

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