Volunteers needed for Birch Bay beach cleanup July 5 & 6

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The Birch Bay community is looking for help with its annual post-Fourth of July beach cleanup. This year, volunteers plan to pick up firework debris and other trash from the beach on Sunday, July 5. Since fireworks are legal until 11 p.m. on July 5, volunteers plan to return for another quick cleanup on Monday, July 6.

“The reason we’ll clean on July 5 is so that the debris, which is basically poison, doesn’t get washed into the bay with the tide,” said Doralee Booth, Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce secretary and treasurer.

The cleanup effort is a partnership by the Birch Bay Chamber, the Whatcom County Health Department and Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management, which funds the cleanup through its adopt-a-block program.

Volunteers can pick up trash bags at the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, at 7900 Birch Bay Drive on July 5. The chamber will also hand out masks and gloves, which are required for this year’s cleanup. Filled trash bags are to be placed in, or around, the garbage cans on Birch Bay Drive. A work crew from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office will collect the trash bags on Monday morning, starting at 8:45 a.m., Booth said. 

Volunteers typically collect about four tons of trash at the annual cleanup, Booth said. This year could be even bigger, as official Fourth of July celebrations and fireworks displays around the county are canceled due to Covid-19.

The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce is asking volunteers to register at birchbaychamber.com/4th-of-july-beach-cleanup/. Collecting names of those involved helps the chamber get grant money for the cleanup.

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