North Shore Beaches Cleared Of Litter By Volunteers

The Town of Oyster Bay held their bi-annual Spring Beach Cleanup and Marine Education Expo on Saturday, April 16, at the town’s north shore beaches.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, Councilwoman Laura Maier and a multitude of volunteers worked together to ensure the facilities are clean by picking up trash at Theodore Roosevelt Beach in Oyster Bay, Stehli Beach in Bayville and Centre Island Beach in Bayville.

Removing debris from beaches and parks also helps prevent trash and plastic from getting into the waterways and causing harm.

The Town of Oyster Bay has done an extraordinary amount of work in trying to mitigate pollution. Efforts in the harbor, trying to help filter the water nationally with their  recently announced kelp growout program. More than 10 football fields worth of kelp is grown to help improve water quality and regulate nitrogen in the waters. The kelp will continue improving the water quality. Removing plastics out of the park and getting garbage and debris out of the way of the water will also inevitably upgrade water quality.

The Spring Beach Cleanup and Marine Education Expo was co-sponsored by Friends of the Bay, an environmental protection organization based in Oyster Bay. This group focuses on protecting the quality of the water and ecosystems in the Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor estuary. Staff and volunteers of Friends of the Bay have been observing the water quality since 1998.

“We’re a local marine conservation organization right in town, in towns and squares,” stated Christine Suter from Friends of the Bay. “We do all kinds of things. We do water quality be monitoring during the summer months from May through October,”

Suter added, “We do monthly beach cleanups. We host  monthly speaker series events. We do all kinds of outreach, communications with other organizations around the island. And today is really important because it’s [not] just about getting out there, connecting with some friends of ours in the industry, but also meeting new people, trying to spread the word about what we’re doing and garnering more support for the cause of preserving and protecting Oyster Bay.”

Volunteers from various local communities removed thousands of pounds of litter from the North Shore beaches during this event while also learning the importance of preserving the environment from representatives of Volunteers for Wildlife, Operation Splash, Bees 2 Seas, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, The WaterFront Center, Long Island Sound Study, Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee and more.

“This great environmental cleanup initiative included volunteers and town employees rolling up their sleeves and working side-by-side to remove litter and debris from the beaches and shoreline along our north shore,” Saladino said. “We thank all the volunteers for pitching in and helping to make a difference in our community.”

Oyster Bay officials honored Senior Girl Scout Shea Salamack of Massapeqa Troop 2069 for her scout project that focused on restoring native plants to Long Island in order to support the native species and improve biodiversity. Salamack’s goal is to return nature to public spaces and to develop a healthy ecosystem on Long Island.

“We thank Shea Salamack for selecting the Town of Oyster Bay as a receipt of her Girl Scout project, and commend her dedication to our environment,” Maier said. “Together with Shea and dozens of volunteers, we also clear our shorelines of countless amounts of paper, food, plastics and other trash are discarded on beaches or dumped overboard from recreational and commercial vessels. Together, we’re improving Mother Earth by cleaning up and preserving our marine life and environment.”