Viewpoints
Gravina Clean Up
By Jerry Cegelske
June 27, 2007
Wednesday
On the last two Saturday's volunteers have been busy bagging
trash and collecting junk on the shores of Gravina Island. On
the 23rd when I was operating the boat to beach it on Gravina,
the engine quit when I didn't expect it to. I repeatedly tried
to start it, which it would do, but when I put it in forward
the engine would quit. It worked a little in reverse but not
as it usually does. I was concerned about water in the fuel
and drained the fuel sump of any water. We made it to shore
and I left the engine to sit for awhile rather than drain the
battery. When it was time for lunch I started the engine again
and when it died, I raised it completely out of the water and
the problem revealed itself. There was a 1inch rope wrapped
around the propeller, which reminded me why Gravina needs to
be cleaned up. The propeller must have picked it up just as
we got to shallow water.
A collection of rope
and net from the beach.
Luckily the day went well from
that point on and as on the 16th, we went on to collect a lot
of trash and find a few treasures. After lunch we worked collecting
trash by the airport runway construction. We collected a refrigerator
with ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise still in it though the door
was lying nearby. It looked like someone had just thrown it
over the side and let the wind blow it to shore.
Much of the bagged trash collected on the 19th of May was collected
earlier and put in a container for the landfill. It amounted
to about 15 cubic yards and weighed 3090 pounds. Much of it
was Styrofoam and plastic collected from the area South of the
runway. The amount collected did not include the two large piles
of trash which was not bagged. We expect the trash collected
the last two weekends to weigh more due to the amount of wire
rope and tires we had collected.
There will be more clean ups scheduled for July and I hope that
you can participate, it's a great way to get some exercise and
help improve the way the community looks.
Jerry Cegelske
Ketchikan, AK
The rope that was wrapped
around the propeller.
Volunteers Bryce Timm,
Krysten Brown, Whitney Harrell and Echo McInturff
waiting for the hamburgers to get done.
Whitney Harrell and
Echo McInturff resting on a large stump on Gravina Island waiting
for lunch.
Some of the trash collected
on the 23rd by the volunteers.
A refrigerator collected
from the cove by the airport runway construction.
Some of the trash collected
on the 16th of June by volunteers
Received June 27, 2007 - Published June 27, 2007
About: "Jerry Cegelske
is the coordinator for the Gravina Island Clean Up."
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