Volunteers clean up Americana Drive
Eight-six volunteers took some time out on Presidents’ Day to clean up Americana Drive in Annandale, filling up 247 trash bags.
In addition to an enormous amount of construction debris and litter here’s what else they collected: 21 tires, four shopping carts, three barbecue grills, eight doors, two car doors, one toilet, and one giant stuffed bear.
The Fairfax County Restoration Project and the Friends of Accotink Creek (FACC) were the main organizers.
Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw’s office helped with logistics. FACETS provided volunteers, transportation, and supplies. The Vistas of Annandale offered a comfort station. Joe Do of the Annandale Rotary Club created a meetup group for the participants. And the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Protection hauled away 9.3 tons of trash and debris.
Operation Stream Shield, a Fairfax County work program for shelter residents, collected 33 bags of trash the week before the cleanup event.
Will Americana Drive stay clean? “Unfortunately, the dumpers and litterbugs are at work 24/7,” FACC reports. “Discarded construction materials are a major element of the items dumped along Americana Drive, tossed away as a matter of convenience by the operators of the many commercial vehicles that park here. It seemed we removed enough lumber, brick, tile, siding, plumbing, insulation, and carpet to build a new house.”
Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make Americana Drive a better place!
We will be back on June 3rd, Clean the Bay Day.
I would like to volunteer. Please send me info.
I haven’t taken down the sign up form so you can submit a form at http://www.fcrpp3.org . While our next event isn’t until June we can add your name and e-mail address to our Master Volunteer list so you will receive the next notice. Thank you, Maya!
DPWES informed us that the finally weight tally was over 9.28 tons! Our volunteers worked so hard and we can’t thank them enough for caring and helping make this community a better place. Thanks to all!
Dang!
It’s just awful that so much stuff is thrown along Americana Drive — this is the 3rd time maybe that the cleanup has produced tons of waste. Why don’t they put cameras to find out who is doing this unlawful dumping?
Many thanks to the volunteers who did the clean up!
I agree that a more aggressive posture is needed to combat this yearly situation. Cameras are essential since the cops can’t sit there 24/7. In addition the FFCB needs to increase the fine to $1,000 per ton of garbage that the cameras can record.
DC and Montgomery county have speed cameras all over the place. There are cameras on 495 to track missing persons. We just got a huge price tag to clean up Lake Accotink. BUT the county can’t manage to pay for a few $200 cameras to catch and fine illegal dumpers!!?? This is absolutely pathetic. The repeat dumpers need to be fined into bankruptcy or arrested. They’re just watching pathetic citizens and pathetic politicians clean up their mess.
KoJo – Amen on the cameras! Our offers to donate cameras to Fairfax County Police for this purpose vanished into a vortex of legalistic restrictions that would have made any donation pointless. Consent from VDOT was another hurdle. It was never clear anyway that the police would have been able or willing to allocate the resources needed.
Perhaps a fake camera and official looking signs with images of video camera and warning of potential fines and jail time. At the very least it would be a great 7 On Your Side story.
The local communities along Americana Drive need to provide dumpsters closer to where people live and scheduled pick ups of large items as the condo where I live does.