Salatworks Cleanup



2006 Saltworks Creek watershed cleanup Project
Saltworks Creek is in many ways a typical Severn tidal creek, extending about 1/2 mile southwest from the mid-Severn and providing good anchorage for cruising boats. The older residential communities of Epping Forest and Severn Grove line its banks, and the creek provides for crab and white perch fishing in the summer. Saltworks Creek has historically suffered from serious siltation entering with stormwater runoff, and following rainstorms its surface still becomes muddy, particularly near the end of the tidal creek. This siltation led to the virtual abandonment of the Saefern community marina due to loss of water depth. At the tidal head of Saltworks Creek is a rather healthy marsh that is considerably larger than other marshes in this part of the Severn. It supports an impressive growth of wild rice, cardinal flower, blue flag, marsh hibiscus, sedges and other brackish marsh plants in addition to the usual cordgrass and cattail. At the head of the marsh, a beaver dam creates a fresh water pond, fed by a continuously running freshwater stream originating over a mile away. As shown by the map at the left, the upper section of this stream abuts the intensely developed Parole area near the corner of Bestgate Rd and General's Highway, and storm drains feed into it from impervious surfaces in the Annapolis Mall, Sam's Club, etc. Large tracts of the upper watershed are currently being developed near Bestgate Rd. The running creek emerges from a culvert under General's Highway into a steep-sided wooded gulley that has been used as an unofficial dump for many years. While other sites throughout the County have similarly been used to dump trash, this one was unusual in its age, size and proximity to Annapolis Mall, as well as its role in degrading water quality in Saltworks Creek. The variety of items in the gully was striking: huge gasoline storage tanks, compressed gas tanks, auto parts of all kinds (especially wheels and tires), home appliances dating to the 1950s, furniture, and many rusted metal objects of unknown origin. Saefern resident Bob Whitcomb took on the job or organizing a cleanup of this area in 2005, engaging the landowners, Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works, and Severn Riverkeeper Fred Kelly. The plan of attack was to get the large items out of the gully and hauled away to proper dumps, then bring in volunteers to remove the smaller items and hand-carry them out of the gully into dumpsters for removal. The photos below show some of the heavy machinery required for removal of the large items in the gully.

The heavy equipment seen in these pictures is expensive to operate and requires skilled operators, so this part of the cleanup was expensive. Costs were shared by Anne Arundel County (providing dumpsters and their hauling to the dump), K. Hovanian Homes (currently building the nearby Monticello development in the Saltworks Creek watershed), and the Severn Riverkeeper Program (contributing about $6000). Once this phase was completed, the area was ready for the volunteer phase on April 1, 2006.

The Riverkeeper and various local community groups worked hard to ensure adequate manpower for the volunteer phase, and an impressive 80 volunteers showed up. Teams were created with different assignments, and they dispersed into the dump area to remove trash items from the ground and haul them up the steep stream bed embankment. From there, trash piles were loaded into trucks and dumpsters for removal to the county landfill. This effort produced 14 truck loads of trash, and over 400 tires, all hauled away by AA County for proper disposal.
2007 Jabez Branch watershed cleanup Project The 2007 watershed cleanup project focused on the Jabez Branch, in Millersville. This tributary of Severn Run lies close to Interstate 97, with headwaters in steep wooded gullies that have served as unofficial trash dumps for years. Water quality in the Jabez Branch has been a problem, as seen by images in our Photo Tour. In spite of its problems, lower parts of the Jabez Branch appear relatively pristine, and brook trout have been found in its waters. Once again Bob Whitcomb organized volunteers, arranged permissions from landowners, and coordinated trash haulaways with Anne Arundel County's Department of Public Works. The cleanup removed hundreds of tires, which were a large component of the trash. Ten truckloads of trash weighing over 7.5 tons were transported to the landfill by the County's trucks. The scenes below show a small sample of the effort that went into this cleanup project.