More than 100 volunteers flocked to Marsh Island days after its much anticipated grand re-opening to remove tons of debris from its shoreline.

Buzzards Bay Coalition volunteer Mark LaValle on day one of the cleanup.

These four full days of trash pickup were a collaboration between the Center for Coastal Studies’ Beach Brigade, Operation Clean Sweep, Buzzards Bay Coalition, Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust, Be the Solution to Pollution, and the municipalities of New Bedford and Fairhaven. A US EPA Southern New England Environmental Program (SNEP) Watershed Implementation Grant was awarded to Center for Coastal Studies to conduct marine debris cleanups on inhabited and uninhabited islands in southern Massachusetts.

Volunteers hauled large objects such as tires, oil booms, and sections of docks and collected smaller items such as cups, water bottles, straws, plastic bags, and nips in categorized sacks to be weighed then transferred to a large dumpster. Other items of note collected in vast quantities: fish netting, line, and rope. Volunteers used pickers as well as got on their hands and knees and manually separated small plastics from the shoreline dirt.

“The trash had piled up as high as three feet in some areas,” said Russ

Wotton, co-team leader overseeing operations of Operation Clean Sweep, positioning his hand to show how high it had been. Wotton has been with the Operation Clean Sweep for nearly 20 years; he noticed the trash pileup on the south side of the peninsula while out on the water and notified the Coalition about the problem. The Coalition turned to the Center for Coastal Studies to see if Marsh Island could be included their SNEP-funded work this fall.

Collection began Saturday, November 1, and ran through Wednesday, November 5. Work began each day in the morning and lasted until nearly sundown.

Everything was weighed to better understand the volumes of debris. Fritz McGuirr of the Beach Brigade said that such information will better inform local policymakers in addressing the sources of this diverse refuse.

Debris has accumulated on the shore of this peninsula for decades. While jutting into New Bedford Harbor gives the spot wonderful views of the surrounds, it also makes it a magnet for all the floating trash in the harbor.

Coffee and pizza were donated by local businesses, thanks to Operation Clean Sweep.