Warm Springs Watershed Association pick up trash

In a distance of less than a mile, more than 50 bags of trash were collected by 11 friends and members of the Warm Springs Watershed Association as part of the 2012 WV Make-it-Shine program.

The group who met at Eddie’s Tires at 9 a.m. for coffee and safety instructions included Giselle Aoussat, Wendy Bookhulz, Norman Dean, Susan Jones, Kate Lehman, Logan Maravelis (age 11), Jim Price, Carol Reece, Tim Seims, Andy Swaim and Mary Youngblood.

Seims organized this year’s Make-it-Shine event. Members of WSWA picked up trash between Winchester Grade Road (County Road 13) and Eddie’s Tires.

The contents of much of the trash collected along this area was what one would expect – litter, including beer and soda cans and bottles, cigarette cartons, and fast food bags, cups and containers. What was unexpected was an illegal dump including 200-300 gallon-plastic containers, as well as plastic cells intended for smaller plants, probably from a nursery. The dump site was so large that a sizable hill had been created from the containers and planting soil still inside them. Several of the plants that had been dumped were still alive and struggling to survive.

Price transported two truck-loads of plastic containers to the Morgan County Solid Waste Authority site. The Morgan County Department of Highways picked up the remaining bags of trash less than an hour after WSWA members had completed their task.

Members of the WSWA, including Swaim and Jones, participated in the April 14, Town of Bath Make-it-Shine program. Swaim and Jones picked up trash between the intersection of U.S. Route 522 and WV Route 9 and Harrison Avenue. WSWA members Claudia Rausch and Judy Webb had already picked up trash between the bridges flanking the west side of 522 and the bridge on Congress Avenue.