Clean Ocean Access

There is 62,000 pounds less of marine debris in our local waters and coastline because volunteers have run our beach cleanups and helped to improve ocean health. As we head into the end of winter and spring we are ramping up our CLEAN program and are looking for a few people to help with the captain activities at the beach cleanups. It takes about 2 hours and it is fun, easy-to-do and is a really important part of welcoming people to COA so we can all do our part to improve ocean health. If you would like to help, please get in touch with us. Thank you

We need clean & safe water to enjoy all the ocean activities that we are thinking about for the upcoming summer. You can be part of the team that is making this happen by being part of the water testing program, it feels good to be part of the solution. It takes 30 minutes per week on Thursday mornings. Get in touch with us or share this message with anyone who would like to help work toward the goal of permanent year-round clean water.  Thank you!

This is WHY we tally every piece of trash we collect on the beach. Passion doesn’t influence policy and we recognize and respect the frustration of the opposition that hears emotional input without tangible facts. Although we were not able to be in person at the state house last Thursday, our sworn testimony was entered into the record. Here is just a portion of a news article and our testimony. Data doesn’t lie. The picture on the upper left is a plastic bag we found on Saturday, in about 20 minutes it would have been in the Atlantic Ocean, for how long… who knows…

Clean Ocean Access (COA) performed a coastal cleanup at Easton’s Beach, Newport Rhode Island on February 7^th 2015 where 24 people removed 110 pounds of small to medium size marine debris as part of the Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle Project (MDSLP) program. Despite arctic conditions and plenty of snowpack a great group of people from Naval Station Newport, Providence, Newport, Middletown and North Kingston did an amazing job to improve ocean health. Besides the 47 plastic bags that were removed from the shoreline we also found 8 bags of dog waste that really makes you wonder if our “re-purposing of single use plastic bags” has taken us in the wrong direction”. We cleaned this coastline 5 weeks ago right before (and after) the polar bear plunge, so it was a little surprising to see that 5 weeks later we found so much stuff. It was nice to see and share with the cleanup volunteers the watershed program happening at the same time, with Linda collecting seaweed samples and Marty and Sue collecting water samples!

2014 was a record setting year with the volunteer team collecting 96% of all water samples, that means we missed just about 2 per month. We are hoping to maintain or improve our water quality sampling rate. Right now we are in need of 2 additional people to help on Thursday morning (for about 30 minutes, anytime between 6AM and 730AM) on a regular basis. If you like sunrises and getting in the water (with a wetsuit or waders), this is a great way to get involved with COA. Thank you!

We don’t need to outlaw straws but we do need to make better choices with the things we use that so easily become trash in the ocean. How many straws do you plan to use this year? How many do you really need to use? When Styrofoam inevitably enters your home, how do you dispose of it? Just a few basic questions that can help inspire some ideas of how to take small and practical steps that can make a difference.

Our annual report on the CLEAN program is now available at ISSUU  The AWESOME thing about this report is that YOU made it possible! Every beach cleanup, every person filled out a tally sheet, that is AMAZING! We wanted to share this presentation at the Library tonight but we’ll aim to do it in the end of February along with our OCEAN and ACCESS reports. Enjoy the viewing, you might see a picture of someone you know!

The open meeting scheduled for January 28th is cancelled and we will resume our open meeting schedule for the 4th Wednesday in February.

As we reflect on the great work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr we are ever so grateful to recognize that a team of 20 are volunteering to create an awesome party for next weekend, and the almost 90 people that are volunteering each week to protect, preserve and maintain the coastal resources that make Aquidneck Island an awesome place to live, work and visit. Perhaps the easiest way to give back today, and everyday, is just is to say thank you and hello with a smile. Enjoy the day whether you are busy at work or out surfing!

In case you are wondering what kind of AWESOME things you can win at our annual winter party, just check out this banner listing of excellent sponsors! Each day we get a few more, truly amazing! Be sure to get your tickets as the show always sells out. Tickets available at Easton’s Point Pub or online at EVENTBRITE Remember, there is AWESOME foods, 2 bands, live music, great DJ and the latest edition is Spanish cider!

We are excited to share with our supporters that we have earned a small grant from the Michael E. McCarthy scholarship fund. In the past two summers we have continued to integrate environmental education with community service and providing a reward of surfing lessons.  This promotes healthy living and a healthy environment because spending time outside encourages physical activity and environment stewardship. Thank you to Darcy, Alyson, Kirk, Brittany, Peter and many other folks who have helped to give us a chance to provide environmental education and sports opportunities to kids that may have not had the chance. One small step at a time…

It would be great to see you at our annual winter party, so many people help to make it happen! Just 12 days away and ticket sales are churning and raffle donations are coming in every day! We are happy to have Island Surf and Sports helping as they always do since our first event, stoked to have Pulse Fitness aboard and always excited to show the art work donated by Saltwater studios.  Get your tickets directly at Easton’s Point Pub or online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coa-annual-january-party-tickets-15105649404

Clean Ocean Access (COA) performed a coastal cleanup at Burma Road near Greene Lane, Middletown Rhode Island on January 10th 2015 where 16 people removed 1,089 pounds of small to medium size marine debris as part of the Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle Project (MDSLP) program. One team covered the roadway and removed hundreds of small items that were blowing in the wind and heading to the ocean during the next wind shift, another team scoured the bushes and removed a large amount of bottles and bags, while two teams focused on very small coves on the coastline that contained huge amounts of plastics, bottles and fishing gear. Everyone worked together and removed several tires, a mattress, box spring, pistachio colored toilet, a broken desk, metal drums, car parts and shingles. If we had twice as many people we would have found twice as much stuff!

Mother nature knows how harmful plastic bags are to the ocean so she stirs up the wind to put plastic bags into trees so that us humans can see them and remove them before they find their way into the ocean. Perhaps it doesn’t work exactly this way, but nature always surprises us and interpreting the magic is all in the eye of the person experiencing it.  Do you part to take care of the environment and have fun while you do it!  Enjoy today

We are stoked to have Anchor Bend Glass supporting our annual winter party, they have always provided awesome product. Thank you! In addition, this year NESURF http://www.nesurf.com/ will be providing a pair of the warmest polar-fleece lined jeans. Be sure to get your tickets at Easton’s Point Pub or online via this link TICKETS

Thanks to everyone who came out to the polar bear cleanup on January 1^st 2015 at Easton’s Beach. 9AM with artic temperatures a team slowly assembled and by 1PM nearly 20 people helped out to remove 75 pounds of small to medium size marine debris from the shoreline. This included the normal stuff we find on the beach as well as cardboard from the firework shells from New Year’s Eve. It was little cold yesterday to count the debris so that will happen in the coming days. Thanks to Empire Tea & Coffee for providing great coffee.

Thank you to Waterbrothers for helping with a donation of great product for our annual celebration of accomplishments January 24^th Party, since 2006 WB has supported this event!

Join us at Easton’s Beach at 9AM on January 1st for a coastal cleanup to improve ocean health and beautify the coastline prior to the Polar Bear Plunge! Hot coffee provided by Empire Tea & Coffee!

Look at those statistics of all the work that we’ve done this year, truly amazing! This is a gift that COA gave to everyone; we appreciate the hard work of the countless volunteers, the board of directors, executive director and all the folks who have made a financial contribution. In 2014 we set out to make sure that COA can last forever, with your help we will make this a reality in 2015 and for years to come.  Happy Holidays!

This year we led or participated in 70 community events to share the Clean Ocean Access Mission as part of our goal of making sure COA lasts forever. Here is a picture from August 12^th 2014 with 13 kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County at Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island. This was led by the International SeaKeepers and the outreach program included six educators dedicated to ocean conservation efforts including, SeaKeepers Director of Programs and Policies, Angela Rosenberg; DISCOVERY Yachts member and Co-Owner and Founder of Global Oceans, Claudia Potamkin; Co-Owner and Founder of Global Oceans, Captain Sandra Yawn; Founder of Ports of Cause, Joyce Clear; Professor of Earth Science at Massasoit Community College, Melany McFadden; and Dave McLaughlin, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Clean Ocean Access.

Join us tonight at 530PM at Patagonia on Thames Street for some Holiday Cheer and be a part of receiving a grant award for our innovative ways of mobilizing the community to take action to care for the environment. Awesome food from A-Market and wine from ANDEGAVIA!

Sometimes it is pretty easy to get caught up in all the work of making COA a sustainable organization such that the mission lasts forever. We need to slow it down and reflect and be grateful for the AWESOME effort of the VOLUNTEERS who are outside on Aquidneck island today (perhaps right this moment when you are reading this) that are doing so many things to protect and preserve the natural environment that makes this place special.  Enjoy the day!

We are looking for one person to help on Saturday mornings with the collection of one water sample in the middle of Easton’s Bay. This is good exercise and a valuable component of our watershed analysis program. If you are able to help on Saturday for about 20 minutes, please get in touch with us and we’ll get you the supplies. Thank you.

The OPEN meeting scheduled for December 16th has been cancelled and replaced with the Holiday Cheer Party on December 17th at Patagonia on Thames Street from 530PM to 730PM. Come on down, everyone is welcome!

A limited batch of the first-ever Clean Ocean Access sweatshirts should be arriving and available for sale on December 22nd, just in time for last minute holiday shopping. We will have kids, women’s and men’s sizes and styles in 2 colors. The sweatshirt material is perfect for all-seasons for a cool summer night, an average Fall day or part of a layered approach for the deep winter!

Be a part of our efforts for permanent year-round clean water, a healthy marine ecosystem and watershed by exploring the possibility of joining our water sampling team. Making the right decisions and building the best relationships with local/state/federal officials involves regular water quality testing, timely identification of point and nonpoint source pollutants, and effective remediation. We have 3 (three) great programs running right now and if you can find the time to get involved, we would welcome your help. Contact us via email at info@cleanoceanaccess.org Thank you.

Clean Ocean Access (COA) performed their 9th annual COA Hull Cove coastal cleanup in Jamestown Rhode Island and 37 people removed 956 pounds of small to medium size marine debris as part of their Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle Project (MDSLP). Since the inception of this annual event on the first Saturday in December, the total effort of 320 volunteers have removed 9,212 pounds of small to medium size marine debris from this shoreline.  Despite the abundance of rain in the forecast we were fortunate to find a 2-hour window to get to the shoreline and do our part to improve ocean health. A great team effort including little kids and adults took us one step closer to removing 100% of the older marine debris from the shoreline and coastal vegetation. There was an area that we’ve worked on for 3 years that had bottles and cans from the 70’s and 80’s and we are feeling really good that it is a thing of the past.” “Sincere appreciation to the Jamestown Police for allowing for some additional parking spots during the effort, Empire Tea & Coffee for providing hot coffee, RPMS for creating awesome signs & posters, and a big THANK YOU to Narragansett Café for hosting the cleanup crew afterwards and providing excellent clam chowder and chili!

Treat the water that falls as rain as a gift that is fit to drink, and treat our coastline that provides us so much enjoyment as something to protect forever! Today is our 9th annual coastal cleanup at Hull Cove in Jamestown, it might be a little wet but we’ve been there in the rain (picture from 2009) and it’s a great way to get outside today, meet some like-minded folks and let life slow down just for a few moments and connect with nature on a really cool stretch of coastline. See you at 12!

Marine Research Associate III

Responsible for providing substantial technical and research support for the Coastal Resource Center’s (CRC) national, regional and local coastal and watershed management efforts. Position is full-time and is limited to 11-28-2015, with extension contingent on funding. Visit the URI jobs website at: https://jobs.uri.edu to apply and view complete details for job posting # (6001699).  Please attach (PDF) the following 3 documents to your electronic application: (#1) cover letter, (#2) resume which includes the names and contact information for three references, and (#3) a 5-page writing sample. Applications will close January 2, 2015. Only online applications will be accepted.  The University of Rhode Island is an AA/EEOD employer.  Women, persons of color, protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups members are encouraged to apply.  

5 years ago we gave 100% of the proceeds of our annual winter party to our good friend Joe Caruso who was battling Lung Cancer. Although Joe is not with us physically, he found his purpose, to inspire and motivate people to ‘get busy living’ and that lives strong today, every day. Starting in 2015, our annual winter party will put 50% of the proceeds into the “Get Busy Living Fund (GBLF)” so that COA can give back to our volunteers when/if they are challenged with life threatening illnesses. COA has an incredibly journey ahead of us to remain sustainable in terms of paying the staff, but we will always make sure our roots remain strong and the GBLF is the right thing to do, we do it every day… Get Busy Living!

Are you interested in learning more about climate change in Rhode Island? Join us for a community meeting on the Resilient RI Act and Climate Change in Rhode Island at Emmanuel Church at 630PM on December 2^nd.

Public access to the coastline is where ocean activities come to life, we are looking for several people to help with our 2015 monitoring program as we expand to include the 17 rights of way to the Newport Harbor in collaboration and partnership with Friends of the Waterfront. If you can visit a right of way 2 times per month (flexible schedule, anytime that works for you!) for about 15 minutes, fill out a survey sheet and send it back, then you are a perfect fit to join this program.  Get in touch with us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org  Thank you!

A good article by our friends over at ECORI…

Don’t Blame Animals Only for Pollution Problems

Whether you enjoy the peace and quiet of a walk on a healthy shoreline or recreation activities in clean water, we all live coastal inspired lives and must protect what we love. A big THANK YOU to the Clean Ocean Access water testing team.  In 2006 when we started this program there was nothing happening in terms of improving water quality on Aquidneck Island. Progress has been made, people are engaged, action is being taken and the COA volunteers are out there every week collecting samples.  Stay tuned for the 2014 annual report. We are partnering with Rogers High School students and the presentation in a few months will include a complete update on the 2015 EPA Water standards. THANK YOU!

Congratulations to all the little kids and older folks who participated in the final ESA contest of the 2014 season at Narragansett Town Beach on Sunday November 23rd 2014. COA has been helping out with various activities with ESA in the past few years as part of our goal of helping out all ocean activities that benefit from healthy shores and clean water. Peter Pan has been running the ESA in New England since 1971, that is an amazing accomplishment! Stay tuned for more information about the 2015 season, the first contest is scheduled for mid-February, just imagine how cold it will be!

Carson came to our fundraiser in October and received a blue marble. Here is a picture of him from last month holding up his promise to take good care of our blue planet doing a cleanup at Naval station Newport. AWESOME! Meanwhile out in the Pacific Albatrosses are dying because they travel hundreds of miles each day to find food for the one offspring they have in their entire life, but mistakenly swoop up tiny plastic and it eventually kills them. Improving ocean health starts with the choices we are making each and every day. Find a way to make a difference, pay it forward forever…

Friends of the Waterfront and Clean Ocean Access working together to take good care of the Watershed. Thanks to Courtenay for training Linda and Don. The warmest part of the day is time spent outside, good stuff!

Do you live on Aquidneck Island have about an hour available to volunteer per week, around the time that it is raining? We are helping URI and SRU with a big project related to the health of our watershed and have a great opportunity to assist with flow metering. Get in touch with us and we’ll share more information and details; this is hands-on science and most of all it is fun, easy and very impactful.  Thank you!

If most people swim in the summer but some people use the water all year-long, when is the right time to monitor quality? We believe it is year-round. Our program for clean water has the ultimate goal of permanent year-round clean water. Thank you to the dedicated volunteers that collect 9 water samples on Thursday and 6 water samples on Saturday, every week of the year. If you would like to get involved, let us know. The data analysis happen inside afterwards and that is equally important!

http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/marinedebris.html

How fast is that water moving? Our coastal water quality program and seaweed nutrient analysis program measure bacteria and nutrients in the water at a given moment in time. To understand how much bacteria or phosphate or nitrate is actually entering our watershed and shorelines requires a better understanding of the flow and a key piece is knowing the velocity of the water. Tomorrow we will start a new partnership helping with a much larger project related to nitrates however it all comes together and integrates nicely with our own efforts. Do you remember Q=VA from physics or fluid dynamics? Do you have time to help volunteer using some cool instruments? Get in touch with us…

A big shout to Annie and Patricia who help out each month with putting up over 100 posters in Newport County sharing with the community our next set of marine debris removal event. There are 3 parts to our efforts: removal, education and solutions and each one of them relies on the community to get actively involved. This isn’t about picking up trash on the beach, it is about taking the first step of a long journey of improving ocean health and living healthy lives.  The cool thing about these 2 places in December is there are quite a few people who have never been to either location!

You might drive by Hull Cove in Jamestown and wonder when we are having our 9^th annual Hull Cove Cleanup. Now we have a sign in place!

Today we helped out to finish up the weekend cleanup and removed the trash. We left behind the 31 engine oil filters and aim to work with the environmental police to track down who left these on the shoreline.

Our monthly meeting is on Tuesday, November 18th at 7PM at the Newport Public Library. It is open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend. Here is a quick AWESOME update for 2015, these will be good events and we’ll bring cookies for dessert!

An awesome shot of Easton’s Beach from our Seaweed Nutrient Analysis Program team. Every Saturday they collect 6 water samples, 6 seaweed samples and take this picture. Thanks to everyone who helped turn this idea into a program!

On Saturday at 12PM you can join with Clean Ocean Access and be part of the first phase of the Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle Project (MDSLP) at Gull Cove Fishing Area. Hot Chocolate and Coffee provided by Empire Tea & Coffee and marsh mellows from Stop&Shop. You want to get outside tomorrow, and this will feel good!

It is with excitement and sincere gratitude to let you know that on Thursday evening at Green Drinks we received a donation from http://www.mission2ocean.com/ to support our Marine Debris Solutions Lifecycle project (MDSLP). It is great to see local businesses working on innovative ways to up cycle plastic and at the same time helping to fix the problems of the past. We look forward to working together with Mission 2.Ocean into the future. Thanks also to everyone who came to Green Drinks on Thursday night, Kara for making it happen, Bill for hosting the event and providing the great food and Tyson for an inspiring talk on how Sailors for The Sea are healing the ocean.

Thank you to the dedicated water testing team that collects 9 samples every Thursday. Results from late October show that bacterial levels remain a problem and we need to keep this issue at the forefront so that we can achieve permanent year-round clean water. How can you help? How about volunteering to collect water samples, analyzing the data, donating to the cause so we can continue to run the program, helping to build our annual report and using a digital publishing tool with cool info-graphics! There are many ways to get involved, contact us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org

One of our core programs “ACCESS” has the principle to ensure public access & shoreline habitat are is available and protected forever. It is critical to strike the right balance of environmental consciousness, fiscal responsibility and a vision of resiliency as mother nature changes her ways. COA attends the monthly Cliff Walk Commission meetings and recently we reviewed the proposed plans for coastal protection. We are providing our letter of support with a few reservations. The plans are available via this LINK and the letter of support is HERE.

Clean Ocean Access has formally adopted 6 public rights of way on Aquidneck Island, informally adopted 8 additional rights of way, actively working on adopting 17 more rights of way and has a vision to adopt another set of rights of way once we get thru the process of the pending rights of way. Access and shoreline protection are the foundation of COA, if you would like to get involved, give us a shout at info@cleanoceanaccess.org  Thank you.

Our marine debris solutions program starts with a community effort with structured events and then evolves into a sustainable adoption program where a person (or small group) takes responsibility for a section of coastline and takes good care of it on a regular basis, on their own schedule. Coastal Erosion, Marine Debris, Invasive Species, …. These are the things we monitor and address once the marine debris solutions program has completed the lifecycle of shifting into the last phase. At Sachuest Point, that is where we are at. We have 14 people involved right now and we are looking for 2 more. If you can invest 1 hour per month into taking good care of the environment, please contact us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org THANK YOU!

The good thing shown on this graph is so far we haven’t found any 55-gallon drums, but we sure have found a whole bunch of junk on our shoreline. Our solution for Marine Debris starts with removing the marine debris and counting it, identifying the major problems and taking action to fix it.  So far this year 1159 people have come to a beach cleanup, which is AWESOME! Meanwhile, we are actively working on creatively fueled and results driven solutions for (1) Cigarette butts, (2) Straws, (3) Balloons, (4) Plastic bags and broader initiatives related to (6) signage at walkways, (7) info-graphics at fishing locations, (8) long term sustainability goals at vendor locations near the coastline and (9) mentoring senior projects related to marine debris. COA isn’t just a bunch of people who pick up trash, it is an island wide community effort taking real action. As the weather gets colder, find a way to get involved, it will make next summer feel that much better!

We are hosting an innovative coastal cleanup on Tuesday, November 4^th at 2^nd Beach at 10AM with a group of local kids. We are looking for a few people to help out. If you can help from 10AM to 1130AM, please get in touch with us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org  Thank you! And be sure to vote on Tuesday too…

We are hosting Green Drinks on November 6^th at 530PM at Newport Yacht Club with food provided by Newport Tent Company. We will have updates from Sailors For The Sea and Mission2Ocean. You want to check this out, see you there!

To influence change requires regular data collection, identification of issues and action to fix them. For the data collection side of things we are happy to have such a great team of volunteers making all of this happen. Time, Talent and Treasure are required to keep Clean Ocean Access running into the future and it is our goal to make sure our mission lasts forever. Stay tuned for our next email blast later this week, if you are not on our email list please send us an email at info@cleanoceanacces.org THANK YOU!

Here are a few ideas we put together for you to think about when it comes to protecting water on Aquidneck Island. Whether is storm water or waste water, we can all do something to help and if EVERYONE does something we will achieve great things. If you would like to help spin this into an info graphic, let us know. Your help is welcome. Thank you!

Thank you to all the folks who came out last night to Water, Water, Everywhere a panel discussion on issues, challenges and solutions relating to water resources on Aquidneck Island. Thank you to Aquidneck Land Trust for making the event happen, Salve for hosting it and the key speakers on the panel: Chuck www.ailt.org, Julia www.cityofnewport.com/departments/utilities, Art http://cels.uri.edu/, Dave www.cleanoceanaccess.org, Joe www.ripr.org, Elizabeth http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/quality/index.htm, Jonathanwww.savebay.org We live in a historic place and we need to make some historic changes to protect our most natural resource. It all starts with each one of us doing simple things, stay tuned for more information and come to a COA event and keep the conversation going!

Our November Coastal Cleanup Poster is ready for sharing with everyone. LC this time of the year is a tradition and Gull Cove in Portsmouth is sure to be exciting, one can only imagine what we’ll find! If you would like to help with some of the efforts for either event, get in touch with us via email at info@cleanoceanaccess.org Thank you!

Our program and partnership for monitoring shoreline changes, removing marine debris and taking good care of environment is underway at Sachuest Point. We need a few more volunteers to help. If you are comfortable with rocky coastline and can volunteer 1 hour per month (any time, it is totally up to you when it happens) and enjoy being outside on this coastline, then this is a great opportunity for you. Get in touch with us via email at info@cleanoceanaccess.org  Thank you!

We are expecting a full house tomorrow evening for the Water Water Everywhere Panel Discussion. If you would like to help out with the information table for COA, get in touch with us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org Thank you!

Yesterday the Green Infrastructure Coalition (GIC is a bunch of organizations including Clean Ocean Access) went on a tour of downtown Newport near Discover Newport and the lower point section and reviewed some upcoming projects, historical docks, land that should be preserved, homes that have been lifted and talked about storm water, waste water and sea-level rise. No one has the answer, but we believe the answer will come by people talking with each other and so we are happy to be part of the GIC. Our involvement in GIC takes a little bit from our OCEAN and WATERSHED and ACCESS programs and brings it together as part of the Green Infrastructure Initiative. Thanks to Lauren and Meg for making it happen and all the folks that came out on a rather nice Tuesday afternoon! If you want to get involved, contact us. Thanks!

Here is a great article in an excellent online news source about Clean Ocean Access and Aquidneck Island Watershed Council –> Article If you would like to get involved with this program (hands-on activities on weekends, education components with schools, analysis of data, grant writing for future goals and objectives) please contact us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org. If you would like to join the ECORI newsletter service, feel free to use this link.

There is an art contest hosted by NOAA that is right in line with our Marine Debris Program at Clean Ocean Access. The deadline is November 17th and we are happy to help engage the kids with a cleanup so they could be part of this contest.… Give us a shout if you would like to explore a way to weave this into upcoming events and get the community (kids up to 8th grade) involved in the contest. More information about the contest can be found at: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/outreach/artcontest.html

On a blustery Saturday afternoon a team of 17 people removed 201 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline of Weaver Cove in Portsmouth RI. Empire Tea & Coffee provided great beverages and it was the Ice Coffee that hit the spot this week! We had good talks with people walking, boating and fishing and everyone agreed that taking good care of our coastline and natural resources is a really important thing to do. Thanks also to the Seaweed Nutrient Analysis team collecting 6 water samples and 6 seaweed sample and also to 2 more people who signed up for a spot on Sachuest Point. A good Saturday for COA!

As the surf picks up and a great weekend is knocking on the door, it is a good time to think about the hard work of the COA volunteers who are working to protect, preserve and maintain the natural beauty that makes living on this island such a great experience. We have real programs with real goals and it is only possible because of dedicated volunteers, a small paid staff, and a community that believes that working together can result in making things better. There are many ways that you can help, just give us a shout. Thank you.

Despite a wet morning we were able to pull off the cleanup with 18 people covering a good amount of 2nd beach and nearby coastline. Now is the season where the Empire Tea & Coffee really hits the spot! Thank you to everyone who ventured and also the seaweed nutrient analysis team that did their weekly activities at 1st beach. Enjoy the day and the rest of the weekend!

Results from Thursday show that the new EPA standards and the current UV operation criteria will not work. UV plant runs with 0.25 inches of rain but on the 8th it only rained 0.13 inches. So the water that flowed on the 9th had no treatment and the beach came in at 91 CFU/100ML which is 31 above the EPA standard for next summer. We look forward to working with city/state/federal agencies and achieving permanent year-round clean water, there is certainly a lot of work ahead of us. The goal is for COA to last forever so that we can work towards the goal of permanent year-round clean water.

We are happy to see that the harbor walk committee was approved with the key feature being the appointment of city staff to the committee. This model works. We are honored to have a member of Clean Ocean Access serve on the initial committee. This will work well for our long term goals within our public access programs which are already on their way to progress with collaboration with Friends of the Waterfront. If you would like to help COA by joining and/or participating in committees or commissions in Newport, Middletown or Portsmouth, please let us know.

This summer our program working towards permanent year-round clean water expanded into Portsmouth to help with swimming events and a by-product was that we were asked to be part of the RIPR series on Narragansett Bay. Check out the clip that just got posted on their site http://ripr.org/post/one-square-mile-monitoring-bay-one-sample-time-audio-slideshow and follow the entire program at http://ripr.org/topic/one-square-mile-narragansett-bay A big THANK YOU to the volunteers who collect water samples every week, all year long.

Internships! Would you like to get involved with COA and make a contribution to our mission at the same time learning valuable skills that are applicable in the real-world? Today we are meeting with the East Bay Metropolitan Career and Technical Center in Newport, Rhode Island to explore opportunities for our programs related to marine biology and conservation. Get in touch with us if you would like to explore being an intern with Clean Ocean Access. Thank you!

How you can help? We are looking for a few people to help with putting up new posters (and taking down the old ones) for our upcoming beach cleanups this month. We have a stack of printed posters (and a sheet of places to visit on the island) and anyone can help out, get in touch with us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org Thank you!

Today we are attending the 1st planning session for the 2015 Watershed Counts report. Last year we provided two articles in the 2014 Watershed Counts report on page 23 and page 24 about our long terms goals for permanent year-round clean water and improving ocean health by changing human behavior to eliminate trash on the shoreline and in the ocean. You can see the report here. Some of the ideas we are going to share today include (1) Public awareness and education of the more stringent EPA standards for water quality at beaches that will be in place for summer 2015, (2) The connection of public access and water quality and how to bridge the gap, (3) The momentum building for improving watershed health to reduce nutrient levels impacting macro-algae in the near shore zone, (4) Partnership with other organizations in the northeast that are facing similar environmental challenges.

Last night at the Friend of the Waterfront (FOW) Board Meeting we achieved approval to establish a long term collaborative effort of FOW&COA to formally adopt the seventeen (17) CRMC rights of way to the shoreline in the Newport Harbor. This is a great step for a lasting relationship for FOW/COA/CRMC and the City of Newport to protect, preserve and maintain public access to the shoreline. There are many GREAT opportunities that will come about with this initiative. Thank you to all the COA volunteers who have been monitoring access points since 2008; it is your hard work, dedication and effort that has created a program that has respect, recognition and integrity. THANK YOU!

Last weekend we received the best news possible from the IRS; they have approved our application for non-profit status!!! About a year ago we asked the community how COA should move forward, it was agreed to establish a board of directors, create bylaws, apply for non-profit status and become a sustainable organization such that our mission lasts forever. Our next big step is to have a successful fundraiser on October 4^th so that we can pay the operating costs and salary to keep the boat afloat. Thank you!

Our approach for the “CLEAN” part of COA is to solve the problem of marine debris on our shoreline and improving ocean health starts with people connecting with each other, outside, doing good things. The conversations that happen outside on the shoreline cover the entire spectrum and it definitely isn’t just about trash! Thank you to the nearly 200 volunteers, 11 beach captains and 1 AWESOME data entry volunteer (Nicol!) for doing a great job this past weekend. Every type of trash we find on our shoreline is an entire initiative in itself to solve, this is why we became a non-profit organization, and with your help and positive energy, we will make sure this is a great place to live, visit and work for future generations. Thank you!

Thank you to Andrew, Margaret, Jay, Melanie and Andrew’s mom for switching out the coastal cleanup poster for the fundraiser poster at over 100 places in Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Jamestown and Newport. There are a few hundred additional locations that we would like to hang some posters. If you would like to help, this is something we do about 1 time per month and your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

There are lots of things to consider when moving in the direction of banning smoking at parks, recreation areas and beaches on Aquidneck Island. To understand the pros and cons, the challenges and the opportunities is all part of the process. Gathering the data is also part of it. Today 2 volunteers will tabulate nearly 100 data sheets of all the data we collected, but here is just a sampling of what we found in Newport and Portsmouth.  We welcome all input and ideas on how to move forward with protecting human health and ocean health when it comes to cigarettes and tobacco products.  Thank you!

Today we helped with the 2^nd annual Shark Fest swim event in Newport Harbor as a way of supporting the swimming community, promoting improving water quality, utilizing public access and sharing the results of our seaweed nutrient analysis program. 30 volunteers started at 7AM helping setup the tables, man the stations, run the entire water patrol and assist with all finish line activities. It was a great event with over 110 swimmers enjoying a clean fast swim from Perotti Park to Kings Park Swim Area followed by an after party at The Landing Restaurant. A big thank you to the volunteers and swimmers that made today a success. Feel good.

A big thank you to the beach cleanup leaders that hosted 7 (seven) Clean Ocean Access cleanups and for Save The Bay and Ocean Conservancy for hosting the International Coastal Cleanup in Rhode Island and Around the World. Empire Tea & Coffee provided excellent beverages (we only managed to get it to 3 locations). Most of all 126 people helped out to improve ocean health on nearly 10 miles of coastline removing over 800 pounds of trash. There is a ton of work ahead of us, but the momentum is here and now and next month we’ll host 2 cleanups and also start the Marine Debris adoption program that works with flexible time. THANK YOU!!!

On Saturday September 20th we are hosting 7 (seven) coastal cleanups on Aquidneck Island as we start our 9th season of Clean Ocean Access activities. Thank you to the leaders who are hosting each event and the thousands of people who have come out and continue to help out with taking action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities!

Today we partnered with  Rhode Island group at Salve Regina University (thank you) and a team of 26 people started the creation of the Clean Ocean Access scrap book of newspaper articles dating back to August 2006. We made a good dent in the process but a huge amount of work remains. Everyone had fun, people were amazed by the stuff we’ve done. The volunteers enjoyed reading newspapers from when they were 16 (and weren’t really reading newspapers!). Fun, Easy, Impactful, that is our game plan and it continues to this day. If you’d like to help with our next steps, let us know. We want to finish the scrap book by October 1st.

We are looking for a few volunteers to help at 7AM to about 9AM on Sunday morning September 21^st at Perotti Park to help with the sign-in station for the 2^nd annual swim event. We are also looking for a few people to help with finish line activities on Sunday morning at Kings Park Swim area from 8AM to about 10AM. Afterwards we’ll have a part at The Landing. If you and a few friends can help, that would be terrific. Thank you

Check it out!

On Saturday we are hosting 7 (seven) cleanups on Aquidneck Island. Hopefully you can be a part of one of the cleanups. After the event we need some help entering the tally sheets into a spreadsheet and updating posters around town. If you can help with either of these activities, that’d be great. New posters are necessary to keep people updated. Logged data is important to influence change to improve ocean health, so rest assured these steps are just as important as the cleanup itself. Thank you

2nd annual swim event in Newport Harbor is happening on Sunday morning on September 21st followed by an after party at The Landing. This is a one mile swim to that is an accomplishment for the swimmers and is also our way of showcasing improving water quality in Newport Harbor. We are the event beneficiary and using the funds for our Seaweed Nutrient Analysis Program. We need a few people to help with land-activities and also for water patrol, if you can help, please contact us at info@cleanoceanaccess.org THANK YOU!

Paddle to remember is the 1st Saturday in October so this year it is on October 4th. This is a time to remember our friends and let their memories inspire us to get busy living. Hope you can make it. Contact us if you would like to help or have a family member or friend that you would like included in the event. Thank you.

Even though the beach season is over we continue to test the local waters for bacteria at 9 (nine) locations every Thursday every week all year-long. Next year you will hear about new terms (BAV as opposed to SSM) as part of EPA’s nationally recommended recreational water quality criteria (RWQC) to protect human health in inland and coastal waters which is designed to protect primary contact recreation, such as swimming, surfing, and diving. Clean Ocean Access will work with local/state/federal agencies to make sure the public understands why the acceptable limit of bacteria has been adjusted to 60CFU as opposed to 104CFU based on epidemiological studies and statistical constructs and boil it down into simple terms.  Our GOAL for the “OCEAN” part of COA is to achieve permanent year-round clean water, by testing the waters all year-long will give us the best chance to educate the public, work with the city and state to endorse the new standards and show that Rhode Island is a leader when it comes to water quality and protecting public health. For the data shown, with the old standard the value of 160 and 146 were considered “unacceptable”. With the new standard the value of 160 and 146 and 81 will be considered “unacceptable”. Stay tuned for more information, meanwhile, get in the ocean and enjoy!

We would like everyone to have a Clean Ocean Access t-shirt, and they are free! We have 2 color variations, most sizes (girls, boys, women’s, men’s) and 2 styles for women (crew neck and V-neck). Contact us via email at info@cleanoceanaccesso.org and we can figure out a way to get you some COA gear. This is “the” season for t-shirts. Get in touch with us…

We are looking for 1 (one) volunteer to help with our weekly water quality program. It takes about 30 minutes and happens on Thursday morning anytime between 6AM and 8AM. It requires getting into waist deep water. Ideally the volunteer will stick with the task for the fall/winter/spring season but if you can help for a few months, that is good to. Send us a message at info@cleanoceanaccess.org  T H A N K  Y O U

Last night we provided public comment on 4 (four) agenda items listed in red at the Newport City Council meeting. All of our core programs require effort to influence change, as an island community we are going to make great things happen!

On Tuesday we hosted a table at the Salve Regina University Taste of Service even and shared the core programs of Clean Ocean Access. Lots of students expressed interest to help take good care of our beautiful island and community and it all starts by each one of us doing a few good things. We also emphasized that it’s not all about them helping us, it is equally so how Clean Ocean Access can help Salve.  Onward…

In late July we brought to attention the problem of the railing at Ochre Point and last week they fixed the problem with plastic plugs. Yesterday one of the plugs slipped out and fortunately Joe (DOT) and John (Rocchio) were onsite just as we found the random plug washing in the run-up. They are going to fix the issue. For each metal railing, there are 3 plastic bugs (left, center, right) and if they go missing, the orange rust will come back, so it’s easy to see.

Today is primary election day. We all have the right and privilege and responsibility to be active in positive change and voting gives you a voice. Try to get out there today and be a part of the process.

In 2014 Clean Ocean Access has collected 7739 cigarette butts during 45 events at shorelines areas of Portsmouth, Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown and Newport. At local beaches 30 events have resulted in removing 4163 cigarette butts from the shoreline and 2 events in the cliff walk removed 319 cigarette butts and 13 events at parks and recreation areas removed 3257 cigarette butts. On Wednesday evening the Newport City Council will introduce 2 resolutions asking the staff to develop an ordinance, COA looks forward to being an active partner and working with the officials in all three communities on Aquidneck Island and possibly surrounding communities to prohibit smoking from parks, recreation areas and beaches by Memorial Day 2015.

Although COA has a primary focus on Aquidneck Island and immediate surrounding coastline, some of our long term goals have far reaching impacts and audiences. At the same time, some of the issues in surrounding communities are close enough (or relevant enough) that it requires our involvement.  The public access issue on this link falls into that category as part of our long term ACCESS goals involves the entire coastline. As with all COA initiatives, we take a positive approach with intense and spirited energy in a respectful and informed manner. We look forward to working with the community to make sure public access is protected, preserved, maintained and available for everyone. If you would like to get involved with COA, everyone is welcome.

Here is a link to a publicly available Google spreadsheet that contains all the details of the coastal cleanups for 2014.  DATA Our Annual summary report will be updated in the early part of 2015. If you would like to use our data for education, research, art projects or just about anything for improving ocean health, feel free to share your idea with us and we’d be happy to help out. Thank you

30 people helped to collect 34 pound of trash as well as a 20 pound steel pipe from Kings Park Swim Area from Hibernian Hall to the New York Yacht Club and surrounding roadways as part of the Newport FILM MISSION BLUE Film event. Whether you call it a Hope Spot or a Marine National Monument, it is on our radar for years and one step at a time we are moving toward this goal. Let us continue to work together to improve ocean health and protect public access.

Join us tonight at Kings Park Swim Area for Newport FILM showing of MISSION BLUE at 715PM. Beforehand at 5PM we’ll host a coastal cleanup along with Sailors For The Sea. For complete details, visit http://www.newportfilm.com/film-events/films/mission-blue Enjoy the Day!

Our public access program is the least known and by far the most important. Without public access, it is mighty difficult to enjoy the ocean! Here is a short list of some of the things we’ve done and are doing in the past few and upcoming days.

Clean Ocean Access (COA) hosted a group of 21 students as part of the 2^nd annual Salve Regina University Exploratory Day of Service and creating a photographic record of the entire cliff walk from Baileys Beach to Easton’s Beach.  The students were split into teams of 3 (three) and assigned one of the seven locations and took pictures with marker and visual aides to document the coastal features and current status of the cliff walk. The pictures will be put into a binder and provided to the Cliff Walk Commission as a record of the cliff walk as of September 2^nd 2014. The initial summary report is here.

Here is a report of our results from August in Portsmouth. A big THANK YOU for Rachel reaching out to Brian who gave her our contact information. The dog Lucy was our team mascot and she helped to make sure we all stayed on track. This was the perfect way to start our island wide efforts for clean shorelines. Enjoy Labor Day!

Today we had a great day helping out with the 5^th annual Coastal Urge SUP CUP at the Newport Ship Yard. Over 100 participants enjoyed a spectacular morning in the paddle board event. Before the awards ceremony we completed a 15-minute spot cleanup of Storer Park, Mary Ferrazzolli Park, Washington Street and State Pier in Newport as part of the environmental sustainability protocol to support the event. To no surprise, Cigarette butts is the #1 type of trashing haunting our harbor water front and we look forward to working with all communities on the island to ban the butts from parks, recreation areas and shorelines. | Action today so future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

Thank you to all the cleanup leaders, volunteers both new and old that made the Summer Marine Debris Program a huge success on Aquidneck Island. Performing coastal cleanups is a reactive approach towards solving the problem, but it is the first step of making real change happen in a positive way. Solid momentum now exists for achieving our ultimate goal of clean shorelines for Aquidneck Island such as senior projects, exhibits, Art projects, workshops and a general conversation within the community that we want to improve ocean health.  Check our events page for upcoming events and enjoy the weekend!

Jim Perrier who for many years led the charge of Friends of the Water Front will be acknowledged at a dedication at the State Pier right next to Mary Ferrazzoli Park and certificate on honor will be shared. COA will be down at the Newport Ship Yard on Saturday for the 5^th annual Newport SUP CUP and we’ll be sending a team over to the State Pier to clean it up, especially after what we might see this afternoon.

A good article by the founder of 5gyres…

Choking the Oceans With Plastic

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/opinion/choking-the-oceans-with-plastic.html

A huge part of COA is the volunteer effort that works to improve ocean health by gathering vital data and removing marine debris from the shoreline.  In September we will start our 9^th year of activities and a few things we’ll be doing is to ban cigarettes at local beaches, recycling containers next to all trash containers, education on how pesticides and fertilizers might be leading to our excessive seaweed problem and working with city, state and federal officials to establish year-round water quality monitoring for New England beaches.

We are lucky to live near the beach and live a life connected to the ocean. Your effort to take good care of the ocean affect people’s lives every day, around the world. While many of us enjoy the spectacular recreational activities that oceans offer, keeping oceans healthy keeps people healthy, and we each have a personal responsibility to protect our oceans. | Today we are hosting a coastal cleanup at 2nd Beach Surfers End around 5PM, everyone is welcome, bring your family, friends and neighbors (and in a few weeks you can also bring your dog!).

Today we hosted our 3rd cleanup at Pheasant Drive Beach and met Leslie and Dennis from the area who heard about our initiative from the local newspapers. Four people and a dog removed 61 pounds of trash on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. As we were leaving a family showed up, asked what we were doing and asked if they could get a trash bag to help out. A good day, to meet 2 new folks and inspiring a family to leave the place looking better than they arrived… clean+ocean+access

Access to the shoreline is where Clean Ocean Access started in January 2006.  Since that time we have formally adopted 6 rights of way with CRMC as of December 2013 and are actively monitoring and working to adopt 8 additional CRMC rights of way. This process takes time and we are also exploring our long term goals for public access that reach far beyond each access point. In 2015 we will be looking to expand our program in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth in the years in accordance with Rhode Island Constitution, Article I, Section 17. If you would like to get involved in monitoring public access, making sure it lasts forever, let us know. Thank you.

Today we talked with a reporter and it made the 2nd news feature on the nightly news

http://www.abc6.com/story/26301335/push-for-smoking-ban-at-aquidneck-beaches

On August 14th we performed another cleanup at Surfers End of 2nd Beach and removed 60 pounds of trash. It was a really nice day with fading surf and a ton of seaweed on the beach. A Middletown high school student heard about our group and …wants to help and she is going to get involved to do her senior project on the year to year comparison of marine debris and its impact on biological aspects of the ocean, she is going to college for Marine Biology so it is a perfect fit. Good things happen at the shoreline…

On August 13th we performed another cleanup at Pheasant Drive Beach in Portsmouth and removed 47 pounds of trash. It was raining at the start and the sun came out at the end. A Portsmouth high school student doing his senior project on running a small business has added “philanthropy” to his business and raised $100 dollars and donated it to Clean Ocean Access. He is running a lemonade stand at farmer’s markets and his tag line is “When Life Gives You Lemons… Give Them Back”. This was the highlight especially after removing all sorts of junk from such a beautiful stretch of coastline.

Today we had an opportunity to share the COA message with kids from the local Boys & Girls Club at the Newport Shipyard as part of a larger initiative by Sea keepers to educate the kids on ocean health and marine pollution. We gave each kid a blue marble and tweaked the blue mind approach. Instead of it being about gratitude, it was about “being responsible”. Each kid has to do 10 things to demonstrate they know what it means to take good care of the environment, and then pass on the marble to someone else, sharing what they did, and asking the next person to do the similar things. All good stuff…

Doing a coastal cleanup is pretty easy. Show up with a few bags and a few friends, pick up some trash, feel good about it, walk away and you are done. Working to improve ocean health and eliminating debris from our shoreline requires a committed long term effort. COA is up for this challenge. Last week we conducted our first weekly cleanup at Pheasant Drive Beach and removed 45 pounds of marine debris. This included 94 food wrappers, 39 straws, 36 plastic bottles and 50 cigarette butts. Unusual items included a back pack, garbage can full of shredded Styrofoam, a chair, lids to paint cans and a few car parts. Stay tuned for a complete listing of 2014/2015 schedule of events that expands our core programs (CLEAN, OCEAN, ACCESS) up the island to make sure we work hard to make this a great place to live and work.

Asking for more concrete on the cliff walk is not an easy thing to say, traditionally speaking keeping the cliff walk natural would be ideal but finding the balance for safety, accessibility and protecting the natural beauty and primitive ruggedness is a delicate balance. There is a section that has some deteriorating walls that didn’t make the plans for the cliff walk repairs but we are hopeful that we can get this included in the next project (fortification of a section near Around the Corner along with the section that critically needs it between Webster and Narragansett).

Last Thursday the Easton’s Beach Stream and Marine Avenue Beach had unacceptable levels of bacteria. Every Thursday we collect 9 (nine) water samples and deliver them to the Rhode Island Department of Health for laboratory analysis for Enterococci (the bacteria associated with warm-blooded animal waste such as humans and deer). We’ve been doing this exact program since 2008 and the original program started in 2006, we test the waters all year-long, every week. The worst thing… on this graph is that we missed the test at Ruggles, with a 100% volunteer organization, this can happen. However, if you know anyone who would like to help with water sampling, it would be great to get them involved to be a back-up resource when we need help. In 3 weeks the beach season ends, water quality isn’t tested again until Memorial Day, but our program continues every week because of your help.

After the cliff walk repairs project finished recently we’ve been monitoring the entire cliff walk (as part of a new idea that we’ve had initial positive feedback from CRMC) and shared our findings with the cliff walk commission and the department of transportation. Fortunately we have a great relationship with everyone involved and this section of new railing that just started rusting will be fixed. The key thing is that this section has the highest wave impact, even with 2 …foot swells with a high tide, this section has wave action while the rest of the railing really only sees water if the waves are big. DOT mentioned that in talking to the Design team, the rusting/water infiltration issue is planned to be addressed with added rubber plugs to keep the water out, with some cleanup work to be done before their installation. So this is good news, we found a little issues and it will be addressed before it becomes too much bigger. If you like walking on the coastline, you are a perfect candidate to help with our access program

With the uptick of visitor traffic with the recently opened cliff walk the fence is falling apart at Ruggles. In the past 2 years our public access monitoring program has reported a similar issue and the City of Newport has fixed the post foundations in 2 sections. We recently reported another post (as shown) and the City is going to fix the post. This is a good partnership where the volunteers who monitor the access points and coastline bring to attention issues that can get fixed before they require costlier solutions. We currently are monitoring 14 rights of ways and plan to expand to 50 in the next 2 years, this will be possible with your help. If you’d like to get involved, let us know.

This has been a popular question so we did some research. The dumpster in the far east lot is used for storage of the seaweed that is raked off the beach. Once the dumpster is full (and it is pretty close) it is taken to RI nursery for composting. This is good although the smell is quite strong. We are going to ask if some signage can be put in place near the dumpster to explain its purpose rather than people thinking it is trash. On a big scale picture, our Seaweed Nutrient Analysis Program (SNAP) begs the bigger question as to why we have so much macro algae and whether the nutrients coming from the watershed are resulting in the abundance and persistence of seaweed on our beaches. If you would like to help with these activities, let us know, it takes a community to make things happen!

We are looking for volunteers for three of our programs.

1. Water Quality | If water free of bacteria is important to you, you can be part of the solution and help to collect a water sample on Thursday morning between 6AM and 8AM. It takes 30 minutes door to door.
2. Seaweed | If reducing the amount of seaweed is important to you, you can be part of the solution and help to test the water anytime during the week using a simple lab kit. It takes about 60 minutes.
3. Public Access | If getting to the coastline is import to you, you can be part of the solution and help to monitor a right of way anytime during the week with a simple form. It takes about 15 minutes.

Get in touch with us via email at info@cleanoceanaccess.org

THANK YOU

This is a cartridge for an electronic cigarette. It is a 16MG size and menthol flavored and is equivalent to approximately 350 puffs, though individual results may vary depending on use. We are now founding these on our area beaches, such as last night at 2^nd beach. We are actively working on using the data we find and driving for changes at a personal level (each one of us making better decisions) and also with policy changes to take better care of our natural resources.

The team collected nine water samples this morning, great job!  This afternoon we are hosting our AFTER5 beach cleanup at 2nd beach at 5pm-6pm at Surfers End. Everyone enjoys a clean beach and a healthy ocean, new folks and old folks are welcome to come together to be part of taking care of our coastline. Enjoy the day.

Today (August 6th 2014) we are hosting a coastal cleanup at 5PM to 6PM at Pheasant Hill Beach in Portsmouth RI at 5PM. This will be a monthly program every Wednesday in August, and part of our overall strategy of expanding our CLEAN program further up the island. Everyone is welcome to attend, it is a very nice stretch of coastline.

Every 3rd Tuesday of the month we’ll have open meeting at the Newport Public Library (6pm in August and 7pm for September thru December) and everyone is welcome to attend and share ideas and ask questions and be a part of making COA happen! We will make sure to have this information posted on our Google calendar (which is accessible via the calendar feature on our website), as events on our face book page and within our email newsletter.  Enjoy the day!

In the past three months we’ve put focus on the  Department of Environmental Management State Park Kings Beach Fishing Area in partnership with groups from Chile, Boston and China. Solving the problem of marine debris on our shoreline is complex, but one of our solutions is to engage people in taking good care of the environment, inspire them to make changes, sharing the message back home and collecting metrics on the impact of our work. Excluding a one-time fishing net, it is clear that by focusing on a specific area, with a clear plan of attack, that we can make a difference. The next 4 weeks are quite busy on Ocean Drive, but we’ll head back out in about a month and see if the debris flux reduces further or if we reach a steady state. A big thank you to all the leaders, volunteers, state park rangers, … everyone!

Here is a letter to the editor from our President of the Board! Newport Daily News

Here are the totals of the AFTER5 coastal cleanup as of July 10^th 2014. Our original idea for better signage for changing human behavior this summer is still part of the plan for 2015 and we are also getting ready to work with all three island communities to ban cigarette butts at area beaches. Our next event is July 24^th at 5PM at Surfers End of 2^nd Beach. Have a good day!

Every Thursday we collect nine water samples on Aquidneck Island with an EPA certified process and deliver them to the RI department of health for water quality analysis. Here are the results for Easton’s Stream (where the parking lot ends, where you would walk from Easton’s Beach across to the Atlantic Beach Club).  Any value greater than 104 is considered to be unsafe for recreational activities.  Lots of good things are happening on our island for water quality, but we’ve got a ways to go! If you’d like to get involved and be a part of our effort for year-round permanent clean water, let us know.

On Thursday (July 17th) at 5PM we’ll host our AFTER5 cleanup at Surfers End of 2nd Beach. Come on out and be a part of taking good care of the environment and being the momentum behind the wave of change of working towards beautifying our shoreline. We’ll provide all the supplies, just show up ready to have a good time and plan to make a difference.  T H A N K  Y O U ! ! !

On Thursday (July 3rd 2014) we conducted our weekly AFTER5 cleanup at Surfers End of 2nd Beach and 16 people removed 42 pounds of trash from the shoreline and parking lot. This brings our 2014 AFTER5 cleanup totals to 232 pounds and 92 people over the course of 7 events (this include the Rhody Surf cleanup, just like last year). Stay tuned for an update on the item count, it is quite telling of the type of marine debris problem that is being created each day at our beaches. Our ultimate goal is to change human behavior so the only trash we find on the beaches comes from the ocean based on the problem of the past.

Making Clean Ocean Access sustainability such that the mission lasts forever requires a coastal inspired group of dedicated volunteers and a back-bone non-profit organization to run the entire operation; we are happy to report that things a…re moving in this direction because of your help! This image barely scratches the surface on how many people have helped in all these programs since 2006 and doesn’t even include the special and social events. Starting this month we’ll roll out an entirely new program for Sachuest Point and in the Fall stay tuned for additional activities for Marine Debris, Storm Water and Education. THANK YOU to everyone that makes this happen. All good stuff!

Today (June 28^th 2014) we hosted a table at the Aquidneck Island Outreach Paddle Board event at Newport Beach Club. We are testing the water quality at NBC for the swim tournament on July 12^th so it made perfect sense to help out with this event. Whether it is surfing, swimming, paddling or walking, just about any ocean activity likely falls within the mission of COA.  A 2 mile recreational paddle and a 6 mile elite paddle, such a great stretch of coastline and we’ll be back this fall to perform a significant coastal cleanup as we work to clean the entire coastline of our island! Enjoy the day…

Despite the rain (which was welcome) the AFTER5 beach cleanup kicked off on June 26^th 2014 at 530PM and 12 people removed 30 pounds of trash. In case you missed the event, come on out to Surfer’s End of 2^nd Beach on Saturday June 28^th at 4PM as part of Rhody Surf 3^rd Annual cleanup.  Enjoy the day, feel good!

This week we helped out at the endless summer camp and on day #1 we performed a coastal cleanup using a new technique of raising awareness and it worked quite well to connect the kids with nature and develops  a new appreciation for the problems of marine debris and its impact on wildlife and the oceans. On day #2 we explored watershed analysis explaining why it is important to measure and understand the impact of changes of Salinity, PH and Phosphate.  During the next week we’ll help out with a hands-on obstacle course demonstrating the challenges that wildlife and marine creatures face in their habitat that is influenced by all of us, and we’ll end the week with a quick coastal cleanup and a surf lesson. If you would like to help, let us know.  Welcome to summer!

Today (June 24^th 2014) the ribbon cutting occurred for the cliff walk repairs project. The success of the Hurricane Sandy Cliff Walk Repairs project showcases the results of genuine dialogue with a spirit of openness all working toward the common goal of making sure everyone can Discover Beautiful Rhode Island.  It was nice to talk afterwards with the state representatives, local leaders, state officials and members of the community who had great things to say about how the wave riding community came together and made sure that the cliff walk repairs were done in a way that protected the natural beauty and primitive ruggedness of the cliff walk. Someone mentioned that the design on the southern portions is “too pristine” which is a battle we decided not to fight, as we know mother nature will win that one, it is just a matter of time…

Thank you to the current team of volunteers (Kirk, Ned, Krystal, Laura, Jimmy, Kate) for doing the variety of fun, easy and impactful tasks for our seaweed nutrient analysis program (SNAP). Here is a picture and quick overview of what is involved for the seaweed collection and water collection. It takes about 45 minutes and we are now looking for volunteers to help for the Fall and Winter. We will train you during the summer. Get in touch if you’d like to help. Thank you.

The AFTER5 coastal cleanup program is off to a great start with amazing leadership and management by Bert, Margaret, Bob, Annie, Travis and Mary. Every Thursday from 5PM to 6PM we perform a cleanup at Surfers End of 2nd Beach. Here are the cumulative results so far. All the trash we find at this time (5pm is after the beach day is over) is “NEW” trash from that day as opposed to what we find in the winter months (which is most brought onto the shore from the ocean). In July, with your help, we will work together and “change human behavior” so that we don’t find any new trash on the beach.

The 8^th annual volunteer appreciation cookout was a huge success. Thanks to the AFTER5 cleanup team for collecting 40 pounds of trash at 2^nd Beach and then heading over to Kings Park Swim Area. 108 people came to the cookout and everyone had a great time. Little kids to older folks, new people and some of the original crew from the meetings at the Elk’s.  Thanks to BJ’s, Stop&Shop, Shaw’s, Easton’s Beach Snack Bar and Aquidneck Pizza for donating food and supplies. Mother Nature hooked us up with AWESOME weather, the least we can do in return is continue to take action so future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities. Enjoy the day!

Everyone is welcome to our cookout on June 19th at Kings Park Swim Area from 5pm to 9PM. Two years ago it was 95 degrees in the shade, this year it is likely to be 75 degrees in the sun! Come on out and meet coastal inspired folks who care about our natural resources and community, just like you!

Yesterday (June 12th 2014) 17 core volunteers helped with the Water Quality Program (13) and the Coastal Cleanup program (4). We collected nine water samples as part of our long term goal of permanent year-round clean water on Aquidneck Island, the results should be available later this afternoon. We removed 596 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline (576 pounds from Kings Beach Fishing Area and surrounding Ocean Drive coastline and 20 pounds from 2nd Beach). Here is a team picture of the effort at Kings Beach which included 17 additional volunteers. THANK YOU also to the 4 new volunteers signing up for the Sachuest Point cleanup program and for Mary helping out with the backlog of Tally and Waiver forms that required data entry. Enjoy the rain!

Today (June 12^th) the water testing program collected nine samples in balmy water in the upper 50’s to low 60’s. This is quite warm compared to what the crew was encountering four months ago with temperatures in the low 30’s.  With any good program it relies on new people getting involved and today Eric showed Eddie how to do the test at Esplanade (waist deep water, sample 1 foot under). The idea of most COA programs it to create small loosely coupled activities that are fun, easy and impactful. Whether it is water testing or the Sachuest cleanup up team, this is the model that works! Thank you to everyone involved!

Today (June 11^th 2014) we did a site visit with DOT to inspect and learn more about the ground penetrating radar (GPR) report and the work being done at Ochre Point. The GPR approach was put in place such that the entire sidewalk was not dug up and flowable fill concrete was added just in sections with voids. On the left side shows two panels, the top is an example of a radar return of no voids and the bottom is an example of voids, which were fixed. The right side shows the entire stretch and the locations where the voids were fixed. An issue with residual concrete protruding from curvature at the gazebo will be fixed and smoothed out (thank you Marty for bringing this to our attention). This walkway from Ruggles Avenue to Marine Avenue is planned to be officially opened by June 20^th. The full as-built report will be available soon, but these pictures are good for now. It is really great to have such a positive working relationship with DOT, Rocchio Construction and the Cliff Walk Commission.

Do you love Sachuest Point? We have a great opportunity coming up. If you have about 1 hour per month to help out, get in touch with us. Enjoy the day!

Today (June 10th 2014) we hosted a beach cleanup at Marine Avenue Beach and cleaned from the Gazebo at Angelsea to the beginning of the new walkway near Miramar. A team of 13 people removed 112 pounds of marine debris. The city is cutting the grass along this entire stretch, new signage is up explaining the closure stops at Sheep Point. We found a dead shark at dog beach. Thank you to everyone who helped out. Our next cleanup is on Thursday, actually there are two cleanups and also water testing!

How to prevent Toys becoming plastic trash in the ocean? Each week we’ll provide simple ideas to improve ocean health. Thanks to our friends at Rhody Surf for putting up our sign a few days a week and having COA information at their table. Everyone working together…

Today (June 5th 2014) the Summer of 2014 AFTER5 coastal cleanup program continued with 7 people removing 23 pounds of trash from the shoreline with a focus on Surfers End of 2nd Beach. Bert and Ruth did a great job leading the cleanup. Thanks to Travis for emptying the barrel. Our next AFTER5 cleanup is scheduled for June 12th at 5PM. The cool thing about today is that right around 5pm it stopped raining and around 530PM the sun came out for a few moments.

The cliff walk will open from Ruggles to Sheep Point by June 13th but from Sheep Point to Ledge Road it will remain closed for about 2-4 more weeks as the “additional work” that was added to the plan in February is completed. In working with DOT, Rocchio Construction, Cliff Walk Commission and City of Newport, we took one of our signs from Bailey’s Beach (which isn’t required there anymore) and updated it with new text. This sign will go up at Marine Avenue so that the tourists know that at Sheep Point they need to turn around. Also, there was a concern about some of the reinforcement sections in front of Ryan’s rock and that is going to be looked at today, stay tuned! This is all part of our public access program, thank you to the many people who help with all sorts of things protecting, preserving and maintaining the adopted public rights of ways.

Last night (June 2nd 2014) the Barrington Town Council passed a resolution (3-2) to remove the sunset clause from the single-use checkout bag moratorium. The opposition made a good point that people need to wash their reusable bags on a regular basis. COA was proud to testify sharing the results of our most recent cleanup and education program that we hosted in early May 2014 at Police Cove in Barrington. Now back to work and seeing what we can do to get the state legislation to move forward…

Awesome job on Thursday by 14 volunteers performing various activities to collect water samples as part of the COA program working towards permanent year-round clean water. The Department of Health laboratory performed the necessary tests and here are the results. As shown, most swimming locations are within the acceptable range with Marine Avenue Beach close to the unacceptable level (104 is the criteria provided to RIDOH via DEM and EPA). However, the moat (Easton’s Stream) continues to have elevated readings despite very little precipitation. For a complete update on the past 6 years of water quality check out our annual report | http://www.cleanoceanaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2013_report.pdf | Thank you to everyone actively involved with the COA water quality program. If you would like to help, let us know, there are plenty of opportunities. Thank you.

The Summer of 2014 AFTER5 coastal cleanup program is off to a great start with 16 people removing 30 pounds of trash from the shoreline with a focus on Surfers End of 2nd Beach. Bert and Bob did a great job leading the cleanup. Thanks to Brian for installing a cigarette butt receptacle. Our next AFTER5 cleanup is scheduled for June 5th at 5PM.

We are looking for a volunteer to help with data entry as part of our coastal cleanup program. This data is VERY IMPORTANT as it provides factual data for policy makers. Using the data from the tally sheets (what we find at a beach cleanup)… you enter it into a spreadsheet. You can do this on your own schedule, whenever it is convenient (such as a cloudy or rainy day). If you (or someone you know) would like to help, please contact us via email at info@cleanoceanaccess.org Thank you.

In January of 2014 we started our SNAP program (Seaweed Nutrient Analysis Program for more details SNAP) and started to gather weekly data along our shoreline primarily around Easton’s Beach.  Meanwhile, years ago in 2007 the EPA identified nine Eutrophic Ponds in Rhode Island, namely Almy Pond in Newport which requires an action plan to address the elevated content of Phosphate (for more details see http://www.epa.gov/waters/tmdldocs/33490_eutropnd.pdf)  It is understood that a significant external source of Phosphorous is from storm water runoff. Using the LaMotte Phosphate test kit tests for low range Phosphate using the LRC Comparator. Range and sensitivity is 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 ppm PO₄^3- (for more details http://www.lamotte.com/en/browse/3121-02.html) we have collected data showing Phosphate levels have started to increase in the past few weeks. In the coming weeks we will share more information as part of a public education and outreach program on ways to reduce the amount of phosphate entering the storm water, such as the type of fertilizers and pesticides used in home lawn and gardening and definitely by making sure all dog-waste is disposed of properly. If you would like to get involved with our SNAP program, we have six teams that do about 30-45 minutes of volunteer effort each Saturday, a great way to get involved, connect with nature and being a part of the effort to take good care of our island.

Today (May 24^th 2014) Clean Ocean Access in partnership with Save The Bay, Surf Rider, Clean Bays, Green Drinks and Aquidneck Land Trust hosted the Atlantic Cup course wide shore wide cleanup as part of the Atlantic Cup, presenting by 11^th hour racing. We had cleanups at Four state parks (Brenton Point, Fort Adams, Fort Wetherill, Beavertail Point) and a great team effort of 111 people removed 707 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline of the race. We also hosted a booth at the Atlantic Cup race and had a wildlife exhibit for kids demonstrating the challenges that animals and birds face in the environment created by mankind.  Thank you to all the people that made today possible, Andrew, Bert, Jon, Christine, Ben, Kate, Drew, Melanie, Dave, Ian, Mike, Dave, Elizabeth, Mike, Elaine, Kent, Jessica, Tony, July, Martha, Ben, Kara as well as Home Depot, Empire Tea & Coffee and the entire staff that ran the Atlantic Cup. Last year we were part of this event and did a beach cleanup and removed 10 pounds of trash, this year we did a little better because of the team effort working together to improve ocean health. Thank you!

Around 6pm on May 18th 2014 the Atlantic Cup, presented by 11th Hour Racing crossed the finish line at Fort Adams. The boats will be in the harbor all week and racing in the Bay next weekend. Newport FILM is showing a great collection of Adventure and Environmental documentaries in partnership with the event on Thursday May 22nd, you can also check out the sailboats and the winner of the Ripple Effect contest! Check their website for complete details http://www.newportfilm.com/  On Saturday May 24th help to make sure our summer starts with a clean shoreline as part of our efforts to improve ocean health. Join Clean Ocean Access for the Atlantic Cup course wide cleanup at Beavertail Point or Fort Wetherill or Brenton Point or Fort Adams from 9AM to 12PM. Afterwards, be sure to come over to Fort Adams to check out the racing! For complete details check out this link | http://issuu.com/windcheck/docs/wc_atlcup_2014_c3d91c5148a040

On May 15th 2014 Clean Ocean Access and Embrace Home Loans worked together to improve ocean health by removing 95 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline of Pebble Beach in Middletown, RI. This pushes our 2014 annual total of trash removed from the shoreline to 4543 pounds.

On May 15th 2014 Clean Ocean Access and Embrace Home Loans worked together to improve ocean health by removing 135 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline of Sandy Point in Portsmouth, RI. This pushes our 2014 annual total of trash removed from the shoreline to 4448 pounds and is our 96^th beach cleanup since September 2006. Thank you the town of Portsmouth for removing the trash …Action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

On May 13th 2014 Clean Ocean Access and Embrace Home Loans worked together to improve ocean health by removing 115 pounds of debris from the roadways near Big Pond in Middletown, RI. This pushes our 2014 annual total of trash removed from the shoreline to 4313 pounds which include the 40 pounds we removed from the Atlantic Beach with Cluny School in the morning hours.  Thank you the town of Middletown for removing the trash. …Action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

New England beaches are only monitored for water quality during Memorial Day to Labor Day. However, Clean Ocean Access monitors nine (9) locations every week of the year with 100% volunteer effort, people just like you. Rhode Island bathing water standards are set by Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Saltwater bathing waters must not exceed a single sample standard of 104 Enterococci (colony forming units) per 100 milliliters (mL). Here is a sampling of the results from May 1st, the two (2) likely sources of Enterococci have elevated readings and three (3) swimming locations are above the acceptable reading. Stay tuned for our annual report on water quality and get in touch with COA if you want to help and volunteer and be a part of our effort working towards permanent year-round clean water. Action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities…

On May 12^th 2014 Clean Ocean Access and Embrace Home Loans worked together to improve ocean health by removing 250 pounds of marine debris of the shoreline from 3^rd Beach in Middletown, RI. This pushes our 2014 annual total of trash removed from the shoreline to 4178 pounds with a volunteer effort of 973 hours.  This is our 93 beach cleanup since September 2006 and our grand total has now surpassed 26 tons. …Action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

On May 10th 2014 Clean Ocean Access and Bureo Skateboards hosted a Reggae Party at Easton’s Point Pub to celebrate the accomplishments of removing 368 pounds of marine debris from Kings Beach Fishing Area on Ocean Drive, Newport RI, earlier in the day. Trenton Street was AWESOME! They played two hours of roots-reggae, originals, surf instrumentals and funky favs and featured Dingo Banton aka Dave Flamand (Analog, the Shades) on bass, Gary “Jah Oil” Walton (Wailing Souls, Cornell Campbell) on guitar, Osi Brathwaite (Natural Element, Jah Spirit) on drums, Cameron (Skatalites) on keys/vox. Special performance included Abstract from New York City. We will try to bring these guys back to Newport and also look to partner with Cameron on some Block Island Events and maybe a trifecta LI/BI/RI event in the future. Thank you to everyone that helped to make this to a great Saturday all-day event!

Today (May 10^th 2014) Clean Ocean Access and Bureo Skateboards hosted our first focused effort on Kings Beach Fishing Area on Ocean Drive, Newport RI. A great effort by 36 people and we removed 368 pounds of debris from the shoreline and surrounding roadways. Home Depot provided the bags, Empire Tea & Coffee provided hot & iced refreshments. Join us this evening at Easton’s Point Pub at 8PM to celebrate our accomplishments and listen to saw awesome Reggae! Trenton Street will play two hours of roots-reggae, originals, surf instrumentals and funky favs and will feature Dingo Banton aka Dave Flamand (Analog, the Shades) on bass, Gary “Jah Oil” Walton (Wailing Souls, Cornell Campbell) on guitar, Osi Brathwaite (Natural Element, Jah Spirit) on drums, Cameron (Skatalites) on keys/vox. Thank you to everyone helping to take action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

Without public access to the shoreline only a small number of people would be able to enjoy ocean activities that require the coastline as the starting point! Fortunately CRMC has a great public right of way adopt-an-access-program and we have adopted seven rights of way in Newport and Middletown and currently working on adopting seven more. Part of the process is to demonstrate that we are committed to the memorandum of understanding and so two times per month a team of resources monitors the access points and reports issues and we work with city/state officials to fix the issues. We also perform a coastal cleanup of each area two times per year. Yesterday was one of those days, removing 60 pounds of trash. Many thanks to the Public Access team, stay tuned for a “walk and talk” program in the Fall of 2014 all about shoreline access.

(1) State Legislation | We are actively involved in the 2014 (as well as 2013) state legislation for Bag Ban (H7178, S2314) which would prohibit single-use plastic bags from checkout counters in retail establishments. We have testified at both hearings and communicated with the new representatives appointed to the House Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources. It is good to be a part of this activity to learn from people who support and oppose the ban. Valid points are made on both sides. (2) Local Legislation | We are actively involved in supporting the Jamestown initiative to pass a resolution in support of the state wide legislation listed above. In 2012 we partnered with RI Surf Rider in the Town of Middletown and they also passed a resolution to share positive support of a statewide ban. (3) Local Legislation | We supported the 2012 initiative in the town of Barrington to ban single-use plastic bags and support their efforts to make sure this becomes a permanent law. After working with the cub scouts in Barrington last weekend and removing 470 pounds of trash, it is very evident that we need to move at a faster rate of protecting our environment. (4) Reusable bags | We made our first batch of 400 reusable bags in March and have given out 388 of them to the public. (5) Beach Cleanups | This continues almost every week. May 10^th is our next event at Kings Beach Fishing Area on Ocean Drive at 12PM.

Today (May 4th 2014) we performed our 89^th coastal cleanup and removed 470 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline of Police Cove in Barrington RI. This was part of a youth development program with the Cub Scouts to help them earn their Conservation Awareness Badge. We ran a great Raptor Hurdle Activity (thank you Anne at the Audubon Society) and focused on habitat loss, pollution and invasive species. The coastal cleanup expanded into why the trash exists, how to prevent it and we also reviewed the impact that marine debris on fisheries and overall ocean health. A solid 2 hour effort of fun activities and a coastline of high density trash. Fortunately, none of this stuff will make it into Narragansett Bay and about 25 children are better equipped to understand that our world is only one we have, and we need to take good care of it. Thank you to Melanie, Dave, Amy and Dave for making today possible.

Last night (May 1^st 2014)we had a good time hosting Green Drinks Newport at Easton’s Point Pub & Restaurant and sharing the COA message and bringing more people together in the community. Ken provided GMO-free food and appetizers and Laura donated a bunch of Corona for the event. Kristen from the City of Newport provided a great update on the new waste management program for Newport, Dave from COA shared the upcoming Atlantic Cup Shore wide Cleanup Up on May 24^th, and we also featured Bureo Skateboards who showcased their efforts to fight ocean trash by establishing a fishnet recycling program in Chile and creating the first-ever skateboard from used fishing gear. Kara has been doing a great job running Green Drinks in Newport since 2007. Thanks to everyone that made this a successful evening. We even got on the radio beforehand!  (scroll to 30:30)

http://wadk.com/assets/podcaster/553/2014_05_01_553_21776_3365.mp3

On Thursday (April 24^th 2014) we ventured into Portsmouth and performed our first water sample testing for Enterococci (the bacteria that is monitored for water quality and beach closure) at the Newport Beach Club. Our long term goals definitely include the expansion of our core programs up the island in the coming years, but this right now is to help the RI swimmers with their dual USMS and USA Swimming sanctioning of the 3rd Annual Rhode Island Aquatic Hall of Fame Open Water Swim.  Clean Water is required for all ocean activities! Naturally we picked up some plastic trash and also took a closer look at the seaweed. The swim event is on July 12^th in the morning hours, it is a very cool course and afterwards we’ll head down to Fort Adams in Newport for the Surf Fest IV!

Today (April 24^th 2014) we hosted a beach cleanup at Sachuest Beach, Middletown, RI. Forster Orthodontics headed from the concession stand south towards Sachuest Point and Salve Regina University headed north towards Surfers End. A total of 17 people removed 175 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline and surrounding coastal area (dunes, street area).  A great team effort, A W E S O M E ! ! ! However, this is good and bad. On March 8^th a team of 136 people scoured this area and removed 1143 pounds of trash. Where is this stuff coming from? A big thanks to everyone who came out today, and thank you to the Town of Middletown for removing the trash afterwards.  Mother Nature continues to give us a chance to fix the problems of the past, Hopefully our efforts and results are being heard across the community and can result in changes in human behavior so that 25 years from now kids won’t have to go to beach cleanups!

Today (April 23^rd) the Community College of Rhode Island (Newport Campus) released Spring 2014 ART-I-FACTS newsletter and our partnership made the headlines! This was a great project engaging the students with Clean Ocean Access and building awesome graphic communications to support the COA programs.  Thank you to Adjunct Professor Ryan Maguire and all the students that made this happen! Some of this art was shown last Fall. To see the complete newsletter, check out this link.

http://www.cleanoceanaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Artifacts_SP_2014.pdf

We all found out some great news last night at the Newport Daily News Community Service Awards! it was announced that next year a new category will be added to the annual event — which will be marking its 20th anniversary — “to recognize outstanding youth volunteers in our community.” Clean Ocean Access believes that the action today is the key to making sure future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities and even more so that the next generation should be actively involved in making it happen. Whether you call it a beach cleanup, youth development, social responsibility, there are plenty of fun, easy and impactful activities for the youth to get actively involved in our mission. Enjoy the day!

Save the date May 10th for an afternoon coastal cleanup followed by an evening of awesome Reggae Music and prizes with Clean Ocean Access trivia! The vision of Bureo Skateboards along with the mission of Clean Ocean Access is a great example of how to make Earth Day Every Day forever! Everyone is welcome.

On Wednesday (April 16^th) we hosted a table at the Earth Day event at Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth RI. JP and the students did a great job putting together a big display of environmental information, fun activities and good participation from the community including Newport Biodiesel, Aquidneck Land Trust and Sustainable Aquidneck. Kyle did an excellent job organizing a poster competition and the students put together some inspirational content! Good job PHS, see you next year and at our next beach cleanup!

The great thing about connecting with nature and the mission of Clean Ocean Access is that it is FUN! Monitoring public access brings people to coastline they’ve never seen. Analyzing the seaweed brings people together and we find new species and see the coastline in a different perspective. Just about any trip to the coastline leads to a coastal cleanup, we probably removed 20 pounds of trash today without even trying! To make it complete (ocean activities…) we helped out at the ESA contest at Easton’s Beach and enjoyed some nice waves and good times with great people. Enjoy the afternoon and what is sure to be a spectacular sunset!

Today was the 12^th Annual Earth Day Breakfast of Champions hosted by Clean Water Action. Clean Ocean Access was proud to be a sponsor of the event with the awards going to ECORI, RIRRC, Tim Tobin at Newport Festivals Foundation and Curt Spaulding EPA regional director.  Rhode Island has a great opportunity to be the leaders of environmental sustainability and together we will continue to take action so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities.

This evening at the cliff walk commission meeting we had an update from DOT on the status of the cliff walk repairs.  Work at the West of Ledge Road and West of Rough Point with the installation of loam, seed and protective erosion blankets has been completed. At Rough Point the contract masonry wall reconstruction has been completed and the concrete walkway placement is expected this week. The additional wall is 1/3 complete. At Miramar the excavation for the concrete walkway and additional concrete wall has begun. Wall cap removal is ongoing. At Rosecliff the railing has been reinstalled as well as installation of loam, seed and protective erosion blankets. Stone duct and asphalt walkway repair has begun and final landscape work is soon to begin.  At Ruggles the concrete under wall work has begun with excavation, formwork and placement. The excavation goes down 2 feet and has found bedrock although it is not really hard.  The void repair under the sidewalk is being done in select locations based on ground penetrating radar, as opposed to digging up the entire sidewalk.  The connection of the new sidewalk (where it collapsed) to the AngleSea wall has reinforced expansion joints and is underway.  The project, including the 1.9M additional work remains on an accelerated scheduled and expected to be finished by June 13^th 2014.  A ribbon cutting ceremony for a new plaque on Memorial Boulevard will likely occur shortly afterwards. There was a bunch of other stuff talked about, but that is a quick update on the section that is closed. The COA signs up on the cliff walk continue to provide a great update to the tourists and fortunately the 6/13 date is still on-track!

Thank you to the City of Newport for running a wonderful Earth Day cleanup across the entire city. Over 130  volunteers came out to the Cliff Walk & Brenton Point and we removed over 520 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline and the State Park. Really great to see so many new faces as well as strong showing of people from over the years. Many thanks to Empire Tea & Coffee for excellent beverages, Home Depot for Paper Bags and most of all the people in the community that came out to take good care of our environment. Enjoy the day!

On Tuesday evening (April 8^th) the COA Board of Directors approved the IRS1023 form, which is the application to the IRS for recognition of exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. We are already established as a non-profit and registered with the State of Rhode Island and have an EIN from the IRS, but in order to receive grants and tax-deductible-donations, we need the IRS1023 form approved. How long does it take? Who knows, we’ve heard estimates of 6 weeks to 15 months. The Board members, Executive Director and our legal team worked very hard to create a rock-solid application (close to 100 pages) and we’ll be sure to let you know when it is approved. None of this changes our goal of making sure we establish a sustainable organization and our mission lasts forever. Our approach is what defines us, here is an overview http://www.cleanoceanaccess.org/how-can-you-help/ Onward we move… “action today so that future generations can continue to enjoy ocean activities”! Thank you to the hundreds of active volunteers and thousands of supporters for believing that we can make a difference and make this island a better place for everyone.

Please find our position on the Shark Tournaments.

There was a SSO at Wave Avenue Pumping Station today and likely CSO events in Newport. Try not to surf near these locations.

Thank you to the 136 volunteers who helped to improve ocean health by removing 1143 pounds of debris from the coastal shoreline of 2nd beach, 3rd beach, pebble beach, purgatory chasm and surrounding roadways on March 8th 2014.

Everyone deserves a clean shoreline whether you walk the beach in the winter time, swim in the summer time, or just care about the marine life that uses the shoreline and coastal waters all year long.

Come on out this Saturday at 12PM at Easton’s Beach (West Lot) Newport RI and be a part of our 92nd beach cleanup (2nd event of 2014) and spend a couple hours on the coastline (and also parts of the cliff walk) working towards improving ocean health by removing debris from the shoreline.

Empire Tea & Coffee provides hot beverages, Home Depot provides cleaning supplies, all you need to do is show up with boots or sturdy shoes, dress accordingly, and get ready to enjoy some time outside, doing good, and meeting like-minded folks who care about improving ocean health!

If you can’t make this cleanup, our next event is scheduled for March 8th.

Have a good day.

Clean Ocean Access (COA) kicked off the 2014 season of events with a solid turnout working towards improving ocean health by removing marine debris from the surrounding coastal shoreline of Taylors Lane in Little Compton, Rhode Island on January 11^th 2014.

Nearly 30 people removed over 800 pounds of marine debris from the shoreline including numerous mangled lobster pots, immense amount of fishing gear, dozens of shoes, balloons, boat key, compass, 98 cigarette butts, dozens of straws and a wide variety of plastics. Unfortunately, if you name it; it is out there in the ocean and washing up on the shoreline.

This marked the 91^st coastal cleanup performed by Clean Ocean Access since September 2006 and the next scheduled event is on February 8^th 2014 at Easton’s Beach, Newport Rhode Island from 12PM to 2PM.

Clean Ocean Access believes that in order to improve ocean health we need to work together on removing marine debris from the coastal shoreline (fixing the problems of the past). This activity is an excellent way for people to spend time outside together, connecting with nature (enjoying today) and understanding the impact that we are having on the environment. We can learn from it and make better decisions (working towards tomorrow) in an easier manner when people connect with nature.

Thank you to Home Depot for providing cleanup supplies and Empire Tea & Coffee for preparing hot beverages for the volunteers. So many people helped out for the planning and actual cleanup, an impressive volunteer effort despite the unsettled weather. Thank you!

Our monthly meeting is scheduled for December 17th at 7PM at the Newport Public Library. Everyone is welcome to attend and share ideas and get involved. We will be talking about the current programs, the 2014 party and future events. Thank you for making COA possible.

Here is the poster | Poster