Civic volunteers help save the bay

On Sunday, April 7, Jason Borowski and the Blue Point Civic Association gathered at the property on Kennedy Avenue and Montauk to clean up the area as part of Save the Great South Bay’s Creek Defender program.

“We had help from the Town of Brookhaven, who flagged the wetland area and guided us on the brush removal and cleanup,” said vice president of the Civic, Alex Wellems.

The area abuts Purgatory Creek and feeds Corey Creek.

Over 30 volunteers came to the event and engaged in garbage cleanup, invasive plant removal, and removal of vines that were strangling white oaks.

Councilman Neil Foley (R-5th District) arranged for pickup and removal of garbage and vegetation.

Wellems remarked on social media about Foley’s devotion to the Civic’s endeavors and said, “Thank you for your support, always.”

“Our environment is paramount to the quality of life we have in the community,” said Foley. “The dedication we show as good stewards of our natural resources will echo for generations.”

Borowski said, “One of the mottos of Save the Great South Bay is to ‘Start where you stand’ and that summarizes the positive impact each of us can have if we simply start by doing something small and hyper local.  Whether it’s attending a clean up event like this, eliminating the use of fertilizers in your yard, or replacing a non-native plant in your yard with a native one, all of these small efforts can have a tremendous impact on the future health of the Great South Bay.” There are some 50 creeks leading into the Great South Bay between Massapequa and Mastic Beach.

“Our annual community creek cleanups are very important to help keep these arteries open and fresh water flowing. Recent storms have washed a plethora of plastics and other debris into the creeks through stormwater drains, which all lead directly to the bay,” said president of SGSB, Robin Silvestri.