Alabama Coastal Cleanup Sept. 21 draws 600 volunteers, removing trash around Mobile Bay and Gulf
About 600 Alabama Coastal Cleanup volunteers worked this weekend to remove trash and debris in Mobile and Baldwin counties, including the Gulf Coast and wetlands, as well as the Mobile causeway and other areas. Gulf Shore’s sugar-white beaches received a good sprucing up, said Cory Powell, coordinator of the 37th annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup. Here, a member of Plant Barry's BEST Team donned waders while removing metal cans and other trash from a stream on Sept. 20, in preparation for the big cleanup. (Phil Free / Alabama News Center)
Thanks to around 600 Alabama Coastal Cleanup volunteers who worked this weekend, coastal areas around Mobile and the state’s sugar-white beaches are sparkling clean.
Volunteers gave an estimated 2,400 manhours to clean the Gulf Coast Saturday, Sept. 21, descending on beaches, marshy areas and coastal roadways from 8 a.m. to noon. Total trash tonnage removed during the state’s largest one-day volunteer cleanup will probably take a week to determine, said Alabama Coastal Cleanup Coordinator Cory Powell, who is waiting for data from zone captains.
Volunteer groups, including about 50 Alabama Power employees, scoured the land and waterways during the 37th annual event. Boaters with nets pulled debris from Mobile Bay; people removed hand trash along the Mobile causeway; kayakers navigated swampy areas to pick up hand trash, such as bottles, paper and cans; and numerous boats traveled the waterways to remove debris.
It was all for a good purpose: The project beautified 26 cleanup zones in and around Baldwin and Mobile counties.
Each zone had a team captain, Powell said, to provide extra care in pre-identified target areas for “sprucing up.” During the event, Alabama Coastal Cleanup gave volunteers supplies such as trash bags and gloves, along with data cards to record the amounts of trash removed.
Powell is excited about this year’s success.
“During the last 36 years, we have had 110,000 volunteers, and 889 tons of garbage has been cleaned up,” said Powell, who also serves as education coordinator at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. “The Alabama Coastal Cleanup is an opportunity for locals and visitors alike to come together in an effort to keep our local ecosystems healthy and beautiful.”
Members of the Plant Barry Environmental Stewardship (BEST) Team started cleaning at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. Barry Planning and Engineering Manager Shawn Stinson and other BEST Team members tackled refuse and debris on water and on the ground. The team used a kayak to work in the wetlands at Bayou Sara and Gunnison Creek in Satsuma, Alabama. Barry Compliance Specialist Walter Rosenbohm, Engineer Bill Ward, Instrumentation and Controls Specialist Emily Green and Maintenance Specialist Dewayne Heathcoe helped on Friday.
BEST consists of Plant Barry volunteers who take the plant’s environmental stewardship to the next level by monthly volunteering in their communities, with projects that improve the environment where they live and work.
Members of the Mobile Division and Plant Barry chapters of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) also worked. Chris Mayfield, vice president of Mobile APSO, Customer Service Manager Johnetta Jackson and External Affairs Manager Beth Thomas cleaned the Mobile causeway at Spanish Fort. The team wore safety vests while removing hand trash, such as bottles, cans, paper and plastic. Community Relations Manager Jeff Schmitz worked in a cleanup at Gulf Shores.
Longtime Barry APSO members, including Contractor Support Specialist Amanda Lofton, Plant IT Specialist Sharon Meier and Employee Development Coordinator Stacy Simmons, helped in the work.
“I’ve probably worked in this cleanup off and on for 10 years,” said Simmons, a Plant Barry employee since September 2006. “I remember when we’d use a boat and take stuff out of the Delta.”
On Saturday, Stinson led nine members of his daughter’s Girl Scouts troop in a cleanup detail. They met their Coastal Cleanup zone captain at Chickasaw, then moved to Satsuma. The girls ranged from 10 to 17. Taking part in the Coastal Cleanup helps the girls to obtain a merit badge.
Mayfield said taking part in events like the Coastal Cleanup is a foundation of good stewardship set by Alabama Power and its employees.
“We want to be good corporate citizens, and part of that is being an active community member and taking care of the environment that we live in,” said Mayfield, who has worked at the company nearly three years. “Every day, we want to leave this place better than we found it. We definitely want to do our part and be engaged. We want to make sure we have clean areas for our kids and for future generations.”
