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When Fourth fun is over, it's time to clean up

By MARLON A. WALKER
Published July 4, 2006

Today, residents will celebrate the nation's birth.

On Wednesday, workers on Pinellas County beaches will clean up after them.

They'll spend the day picking up sticks left from bottle rockets and sparklers, burned out cones from used fountains and bags of duds left by people who chose to celebrate along the Gulf of Mexico.

"I understand people like to see the fireworks and stuff, but people want to use (the beach) the next day," said Dean Scharmen, the director of public services for Indian Rocks Beach. "But it's like people littering - we're not going to stop it."

Scharmen said it could cost nearly $3,000 to clean the beach this year, depending on how much fun people have. Last year, he said, a hefty fee was paid out for overtime and a mechanical device used to rake the sand, because there was just too much to pick up. Leaders passed an ordinance banning people from disposing of used fireworks in the sand, he said, but it doesn't seem like anybody has been deterred.

"The beach is one of the biggest areas where you can walk, shooting off fireworks, and not get caught," he said. "You're not going to catch all these people. It's everywhere in the United States."

At St. Pete Beach, officials combat the problem by providing trash bins for used fireworks. And, officials say, it looks like it's working.

"It always amazes me that people tend to clean up after themselves, said Scott Graubard, the city's public works director. "My experience is when we make a provision for garbage, people use those provisions. And that's a good thing."

He said he expects cleanup to cost about $2,000 since July 5 falls on a regular workday. The entire department and a few volunteers will hit the beach early Wednesday morning.

Fireworks have not been a problem in North Redington Beach, which prohibits the shooting of any fireworks on the beach, which is about a quarter of a mile long. Public works Director Bruce Mercer says two off-duty officers from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office patrol the beach.

"Our beach is pretty clean" on July 5, he said. "But our beach is pretty small."

OTHER CLEANUPS

To help rid beaches of July Fourth litter, several groups have planned cleanups for Saturday:

 - The Redington Beach Property Owners Association will meet at the Redington Beach Town Beach Park at 160th Avenue N and Gulf Boulevard at 8:30 a.m. Information: Paul Warren, 394-8978.

 - Keep Pinellas Beautiful and Tampa Bay Watch is hosting a south county beach cleanup at 8:30 a.m. at Fort De Soto Park. Information: Martha Garcia, 867-8166, for land; Keep Pinellas Beautiful, 533-0402, for water.

 - Treasure Island is holding a beach cleanup at 9 a.m. at the concession stand inside the municipal parking lot on Gulf Boulevard. Information: Don Nolan,360-6145.

[Last modified July 4, 2006, 00:49:48]