Clean Up Oakland Creeks & Estuary

OAKLAND: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CREEK CLEANING EVENT

Oakland officials are looking for volunteers for the city's 14th annual Creek to Bay Day event to help clean and protect Oakland's creeks, Lake Merritt and the Oakland Estuary.

The event will be held on Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon.

It is part of the 25th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, which is presented by the California Coastal Commission.

Volunteers will help with trash pickup, non-native plant removal, planting creek sides with California native plants, and metal storm drain marker installation around the city.

Organizers say that groups of all ages are welcome to participate, so people can gather their friends, family and co-workers to help improve the health of local communities and the environment.

More than 1,300 participants volunteered at 24 different locations across Oakland at last year's Creek to Bay Day.

Volunteers picked up more than 5 tons of trash from Oakland's creeks, the estuary and Lake Merritt, and removed 321 cubic yards of non-native green waste from local creeks to allow native plants to flourish.

Organizers say the data collected about items commonly found by volunteers reveals important information about potential sources of marine debris and pollution.

They say items such as plastic bags and packaging, cigarette butts, bottle caps, Styrofoam, batteries, electronics and tires often travel downstream and damage fragile creek and bay ecosystems.

Complete event information and clean-up site details are available at http://www.oaklandcreektobay.org.