Surovell, Krizek hosting Little Hunting Creek cleanup Saturday

State Sen. Scott Surovell is holding his annual Little Hunting Creek cleanup Saturday morning along with Del. Paul Krizek.

The cleanup, which is done in partnership with the Friends of Little Hunting Creek, is now in its ninth year. It’s one of handful of such cleanups held each year, and Surovell has used the event to publicize the chronic problem the watershed faces with garbage and discarded items.

Last year Surovell said his team pulled more than 2,000 pounds of trash from the creek, which runs from Huntley Meadows through Hybla Valley and into the Potomac River north of Mount Vernon. Surovell’s cleanups are held in the Hybla Valley area east of Route 1, where a significant amount of trash from nearby shopping centers and apartment complexes ends up.

In addition to the bottles, bags and foot containers pulled from the creek, larger items like tires, bicycles, car parts and shopping carts are hauled out each year. Surovell says more than 250 shopping carts had been pulled from the creek since his cleanups began.

In the past Surovell has blasted some of the retailers on social media and in press releases after their carts were pulled from the creek, and twice Surovell has tried to pass legislation intended to deal with the situation. A bill earlier this year that would have allowed Fairfax County to charge businesses for the costs of removing their shopping carts from county property passed the Senate but died in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Cleanup details:

Date: Saturday, May 11
Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
RSVP: http://bit.ly/CreekCleanup2019
Locations:

• Janna Lee Avenue Little Hunting Creek Bridge: From Route 1 (at the intersection with Mount Vernon Memorial Highway), turn west onto Buckman Road, right on Janna Lee Avenue to the bridge over Little Hunting Creek. GPS Coordinates: 38.741070, -77.095512
• Mount Vernon Shopping Plaza Near Duron Paint: From Route 1, turn North on Fordson Road, the cleanup site is in the concrete channel adjacent to a Duron store in the NE corner of Mount Vernon Plaza. Enter from Fordson Road. GPS Coordinates: 38.749711, -77.089303