CREEK TO BAY DAY 2007
THANK YOU!
The City of Oakland Public Works Agency wishes to thank all the volunteers who helped make Creek to Bay Day a great success! Oakland’s 12th annual Creek to Bay Day took place on Saturday, September 16, 2007 from 9:00 am - Noon as part of Coastal Cleanup Day [link].
This year 1,061 volunteers participated in a range of projects at 20 locations around the City. As a result, 1,564 pounds of trash and 47 cubic yards of large debris were removed from Oakland's creeks and Lake Merritt. In addition, 263 cubic yards of non-native green waste,
including species such as Algerian and Cape ivy, Scotch Broom, and
Vinca (a.k.a. Periwinkle), were removed from our riparian (creek)
corridors to make way for native plants to flourish.
To help reduce the future amount of trash in our creeks, 80 storm drains
were labeled with new stainless steel storm drain markers bearing the
message "No Dumping, Drains to Bay.” The new markers are an attractive
and durable way to remind residents that storm drains lead directly to
Oakland’s creeks, Lake Merritt and the San Francisco Bay and that
pollutants such as litter, car wash runoff, and motor oil should be
kept out of the drains.
The
prize for the Most Unusual Item found during the event, an antique car
wheel component, went to a participant at the Peralta Creek at Peralta
Hacienda Park cleanup location who won a gift certificate to Kincaid’s
Restaurant.
Creek to Bay Day is held as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day [link] and is sponsored in California by the California Coastal Commission.
The statewide event turned out 45,443 volunteers who participated in
picking up 429,890 pounds of trash and 69,881 pounds of recyclables!
There are many people who deserve special recognition for their role in making Creek to Bay Day
happen. The first thanks goes to the Community Site Coordinators who
arranged for great projects to take place at each of our staging
locations and kept the day running smoothly. The event was also made
possible through the participation of the City’s Streets and Sidewalks
Division [link] who assisted with the installation of the storm drain
markers, the Keep Oakland Beautiful Program [link] who provided tools
and debris pickup for the event, and the Parks Maintenance Division
[link] who assisted with debris pickup. Thank you also to Waste
Management [link] for providing debris boxes at many of the site
locations to collect green waste. The City would also like to thank
our other event sponsor, the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Creek to Bay Day is coordinated by the City's Public Works Agency Environmental Services Division.
For
more information about this event or to join the mailing list for
announcements of this and other creek cleanups, please contact the
Creek to Bay Day Coordinator at: watersheds@oaklandnet.com or call the Creek and Clean Water Information Number at (510) 238-6600.
More Information: