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Cleanup scheduled for Goldsmith Inlet this Saturday

KATHARINE SCHROEDER FILE PHOTO | Local teens swim in the inlet last summer.

Goldsmith Inlet will get its spring cleaning this weekend, when several community groups take to the beach to remove debris from the inlet pond and Soundfront beach at the end of Mill Lane in Peconic.

The Group for the East End, coordinating the event, is looking for volunteers to help clean the beach between 9 and noon this Saturday. If it rains, the cleanup moves to the same time Sunday. Also participating are the Mattituck-Southold-Greenport NJROTC, the Group to Save Goldsmith Inlet, Kenney’s Beach Association, Peconic Bay Shores, Southold Town and Suffolk County.

Two years ago, volunteers filled a 20-yard dumpster with trash they collected from the beach. In past cleanups, the debris has included everything from huge logs to a parking ticket from Connecticut.

The natural geography and tidal activity of the area surrounding the inlet make it a repository for marine debris, said the Group for the East End in a press release announcing the cleanup this week.

“The majority of what we find on the beaches are plastics and packaging materials,” said cleanup organizer Jennifer Hartnagel, an environmental advocate with the group. “It speaks to the need for reducing our use of these non-biodegradable materials and recycling as much as possible.

“Cleanups are feel-good, community-building experiences and make a real difference, but beach cleanups especially bring to light the problems we face with waste,” she added. “Though humans create much of the debris that lands on our shores, we can also be part of the solution.”

To join the cleanup, contact Ms. Hartnagel at 631-765-6450, ext. 211, or [email protected].

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