Woy Woy bay is focus of clean-up efforts

Local clean-up activist Mr Graham Johnston of MacMasters Beach Surf Club has focused his ongoing efforts on Woy Woy Bay.

Based on a survey he had conducted two weeks earlier, the area was identified as potentially being the worst polluted foreshore his cleanup program had yet encountered.

Joined by participants from the MacMasters Beach Junior Surf Club and the Brisbane Water Oyster Growers on Wednesday, April 11, Mr Johnston's cleanup group removed a wheelie bin, 13 large oyster trays, 29 tyres, 50 full bags of plastic items, hundreds of tennis balls and many beer bottles and pieces of foam from the area.

Mr Johnston said that it appeared as if the bulk of the small litter had washed into the bay from storm water drains.

He went on to note that the weight and stress that this litter had placed on the shore bed had destroyed the root systems of the native plant life.

In total, a tonne of rubbish was collected from the 150 metres of foreshore, and Mr Johnston has said that there is plenty more to come from a second layer of litter uncovered from underneath washed up sea grass.

Eight hundred kilograms of the day's waste were deposited at Woy Woy tip, however, a Council policy of only accepting four tyres per load meant that the rest had to be stored at the National Parks' depot.

Junior participant Nichole Jackson recorded the day's events with a video camera, the footage of which will be distributed to relevant stakeholders.

Mr Johnston is seeking advice from State Fisheries regarding the damage that unwanted oyster trays and other plastic products are doing to Brisbane Waters' local mangroves.

Further funding is being requested to ensure that the task can be completed and the cleanliness of the area maintained.

Media Release, 12 Apr 2012

Graham Johnston, MacMasters Beach Surf Club