Photo courtesy of Office of Sen. Surovell
Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Friends Of Little Hunting Creek remove shopping carts, trash From Little Hunting Creek.
On April 11, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D - Mt. Vernon) and Delegate Paul Krizek (D- Mt. Vernon) hosted their annual Little Hunting Creek Cleanup in partnership with Friends of Little Hunting Creek.
The cleanup took place in the Hybla Valley area at the Janna Lee Avenue Bridge, Grackle Court and at the Mount Vernon Shopping Plaza.
More than 45 volunteers, including staff from the office of Supervisor Rodney Lusk, turned out to collect an estimated 60 bags of trash and remove nearly 40 abandoned Costco and Home Depot shopping carts from the stream.
Volunteers collected large quantities of plastic bags, plastic water bottles, styrofoam containers, and beverage cans, as well as:
- 40 shopping carts - mostly from Costco, and a dozen from Home Depot, Aldi, Shoppers Food Warehouse and Wal-Mart.
- A tire
- A scooter
- A television
- A rubber costume mask
- A wheelbarrow
- A cooler
- Several large lengths of plastic duct hosing
- A garden hose
Once named “Fairfax County’s Trashiest Stream” in 2007 by Fairfax County Government, Little Hunting Creek still suffers from dumping which clogs up the stream and obstructs the natural flow of water. Shopping carts are frequently abandoned in and around the creek, and this year saw evidence of that at a higher level than the past few years.
It is deeply disappointing to see that many of the stores surrounding the creek, including Home Depot and Costco, continue to fail at their responsibility to put measures in place to prevent people from removing shopping carts into neighborhoods.
Since 2011, Majority Leader Surovell and volunteers have removed approximately 300 shopping carts from the creek, as well as 275 tires. These annual cleanups of the creek are only possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of local community volunteers, including students from South County High School who joined us this year.
Sen. Surovell specifically thanks Wal-Mart for the shopping cart control system they installed which has resulted in their carts largely no longer appearing. Other retailers have refused and now their carts appear every year.
