Cleaning Accotink: An Ongoing Project

Every third Saturday of the month, Fairfax City residents gather at Hallman and Main Streets to clean trash from Accotink Creek.

"I used to live across the street," said Ashley Stanton of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust at a cleanup this past Saturday. "The stream bank had a lot of invasive plants and a lot of trash. This project was a good way for me to attack watershed health while also involving the neighborhood community."

This 51-mile creek is the second largest watershed in Fairfax County. As the county's population has ballooned, evermore facilities and roads are built to accommodate the population. Impervious surfaces, like parking lots and streets, prevent the soil from absorbing rainwater. Water runoff can send sediment from eroding banks and chemicals from fertilized backyards down the creek and into other watersheds, such as the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

Accotink Creek cleanup volunteers hope they help the creek flourish despite decades of population growth and development.

Call Stanton at 703-351-5093 extention 26 to get involved.