Volunteers clean up Americana Drive
The latest cleanup on Americana Drive in Annandale, on June 7, yielded 137 bags of trash along the roadway and Accotink Creek.
Nearly 60 people showed up to volunteer, including members of Friends of Accotink Creek; the Young Men’s Service League; Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that helps communities clean up after disasters; Boy Scout Troop 829; and local residents.
A crew from Operation Stream Shield, a county program that provides temporary jobs to the homeless, collected 47 bags of trash.
Del. Vivian Watts came to the event to show her support, and the Vistas apartments provided access to their facilities.
The cleanup was held on Clean the Bay Day, an annual initiative organized by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation with the goal of keeping litter and pollution out of streams that flow into the bay.
Here is a brief rundown of some of the debris collected:
- two 40-pound bags of unused mortar mix
- two tires
- two closet doors
- one toilet
- one table
- one car bumper
- one Samsung Galaxy phone
- four containers of motor oil
- two cans of paint
- one truck-size snow chain
- one auto A/C compressor
- two Guatemalan coins
- one keychain amulet promising money, abundance, luck, and prosperity
Thank you to all of the volunteers who showed up to work hard in service toward improving the condition of this community and of Accotink Creek! Until the dumpers and litterbugs gain some sense of responsibility, the situation will not improve. We will be doing this all again on Veterans Day, November 11th.
Friends of Accotink Creek
Many thanks to all the kind volunteers who participated to clean up this part of Annandale. Not sure how we reach the polluters. Could we provide a dumpster somewhere for people and businesses to use?
It is nice to see community coming together for so many years to clean up Amer Drive. Please deposit the bags bags of trash in the driveway of each BoS member. This issue can be solved with leadership. But BoS have willfully ignore this obvious quality of life issue.
Actually, there are structural issues with Americana Drive, VDOT being the major impediment to making any meaningful improvements there. Our Board has instructed the County Executive to come up with a plan so we shall see soon what plan he comes up with. Supervisor Walkinshaw and his staff have worked hard on Americana Drive. So we wait to see the plan.