Arlington Fairfax Chapter

of the

Izaak Walton League of America

Watershed Conservation Activities

Virginia Waterways Cleanup

Shoreline Cleanup of Mason Neck State Park

September 13, 2008

Thirty volunteers turned out for the Virginia Waterways Cleanup 1 at Mason Neck State Park on September 13th. Working from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, they removed more than 1100 pounds trash from the shoreline of the park. Included in this total were 12 car tires and a very large piece of styrofoam.

A number of individuals and groups contributed to the success of this effort.

Volunteers working on the shoreline at Mason Neck State Park. Photograph provided by Joe Chudzik.

Members of the Mason Neck Civic Association, the Mason Neck Lions Club and other volunteers cleaned the shoreline running parallel to the Bay View Trail.

Aubrey Petitt using a pole to move his boat in the shallow water

Arlington Fairfax Chapter member Aubrey Petitt 2 brought his bass boat to help transport collected trash to the canoe launch where it was loaded into one of the park's dump trucks.

Scouts of Troop 1137, cleaning the shoreline of Sandy Point

Using Canoes and an aluminum boat, 12 volunteers from Centreville, VA Boy Scout Troop 1137 transported themselves to Sandy Point at the far end of the park where they worked on an area that had not been cleaned in some years.

Jim Thackaberry who had volunteered last June for Clean the Bay Day was here again to help unload trash from the canoes and the boats.

Joe Chudzik of the Mason Neck Lions Club not only worked as a volunteer but once again provided bottled water and soft drinks for the participants.

And last but not least we had the assistance and complete support of the Park Personnel.

Members of Troop 1137 standing by a pile of tires that they had collected Cobalt blue, Phillips milk of Magnesia bottle found at Sandy Point.

While there were a number of pull tab3 beer cans picked up at Sandy Point perhaps the most unusual item collected was a cobalt blue bottle embossed with the words "Milk of Magnesia The Chas H. Phillips Chemical Company " which obviously predates the over the counter pharmaceutical labeling requirements.

Click on this link for information about our next scheduled cleanup at Mason Neck State Park.

Home About Us Index of Past Cleanups

1. This particular event was organized by the Arlington Fairfax Chapter of the IWLA in partnership with the Clean Virginia Waterways organization as part of the annual "Virginia Waterways Cleanup ".
2. Aubrey Petitt is the owner and operator of Whitetail Express, a trucking and junk removal service.
3. Pull tab cans were banned in Virginia in 1979 and have been out of production for more than twenty years.